The PlayStation 5’s new DualSense controller is of course required to play on the new console and sports a number of new features like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, but it can also easily double as a PC controller if you choose to use it that way. To make it easier for DualSense owners to use the gamepad on the PC, Steam has been consistently updating the Steam Client Beta over the past week with changes to bolster the DualSense’s capabilities when used on the platform. Those updates have already enabled features like rumble support when using the controller over a Bluetooth connection among other handy features.
We’ve already seen in the past that the DualSense controller is able to pull off some neat tricks when hooked up to a PC or other device, and slowly but surely, the Steam platform is adding support for most of the DualSense’s capabilities. Things like the adaptive triggers were designed specifically for PlayStation 5 games, so it’s unlikely we’ll ever see that feature enabled on Steam, but helpful features like gyro controls and the use of the trackpad are already supported.
Below you can find a list of the improvements made to the Steam Client Beta through several updates starting back on November 12th to see what’s already changed over time.
November 12th
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- Added initial input support for the PS5 DualSense controller. Advanced features such as rumble, trackpad, and gyro are not yet supported.
- Fixed the Xbox Series X controller showing up as 2 separate controllers
November 18th
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- Added additional support for the PS5 DualSense controller including LED, trackpad, rumble, and gyro functionality.
- Added a directional swipe mode for use with trackpads and gyro
November 19th
- Implemented rumble over Bluetooth for the PS5 controller
- Reduced rumble intensity for the PS5 controller
- Allow external audio based haptics while rumble is enabled on the PS5 DualSense controller
Newest Steam Update 2016
November 20th
- Fixed occasional dropped rumble with the PS5 DualSense controller
Xbox controllers are often used on the PC platform via Steam and other launchers because of the natural support for them from Windows, but the DualSense is still more than a viable option for a gamepad, especially if it’s getting updates like these. Using it on the PlayStation 5 will always allow people to make the most of its features, however, like the ability to easily capture and share moments from your gameplay.
A fresh Beta update for the Steam Client has rolled out and it seems Valve have begun modernising more parts of the UI, along with Linux fixes.
For the Steam Library, they've now ripped out the old Properties dialog with one that more closely matches their newer design style found elsewhere like with chat settings and they also fixed displaying the coming soon date for a pre-loaded game.
Here's a quick look at what it looks like (click to enlarge) in the new Beta:
There's a whole new design with a sidebar instead of tabs along the top, with a box for launch arguments now just always visible and a whole page just for Compatibility which is where you will find the Steam Play settings now. Overall, it looks nice and sleek and seems to do the job just fine as before. I'm sure it will annoy someone though, change always does.
Just for Linux - Valve also improved the performance of processing incremental Vulkan shader database updates, they fixed several issues around skipped Vulkan shader processing continuing in the background after a game has started and for NVIDIA GPU users they've currently disabled shader processing due to driver issues that are 'being looked into'. Hopefully NVIDIA will be able to sort that soon to give us all a better experience.
A new networking option was also added:
P2P connections now may attempt to negotiate a direct connection (punch NAT), if needed, to prevent connections from having very high latency. Added an option in the In-Game settings panel to control when your IP address is shared.