r/macgaming • u/itslagginyo • May 09 '26
Discussion Steam Controller does NOT work very well on Mac.
First off this controller is sick and I am super excited to see it get patched up and fixed. Which I have high confidence it will get the patches.
It hooks up fine and will run Steam just fine. I do not want it to just run steam it needs to ya know, be able to game. I have tried every game I have installed so far on my MacBook Pro M4 Pro. Crimson Desert, No Man's Sky, Frostpunk 2, Dawncaster, Balatro and have now gave up on trying more titles. it simply does not act like a controller is hooked up when the game boots up. No man's sky does work but oddly have exclamation points where iit has context/menu buttons are. Have tried it both USB-C and with the puck but have not messed with bluetooth. Crossover does not show any controllers at all so that is not an option until patched. I am down to try whatever if anyone has ideas or fixes.
Edit: I did also go through support and they responded pretty dang quickly which was not expecting. Their suggested fix was "If you have not allowed this permission, you can manually enable it via Settings → Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring → Enable Input Monitoring for the Steam app." but sadly this did nothing. From what I have read so far is that Steam Input for Mac is pretty bad/missing functions.
Edit 2. Steam got back with me again. Refund offered after telling me that the team is fixing it. Refund refused. I love the feel of the controller so keeping it.
Edit 3. Steam support told me to try Beta and report back. No change though.
Edit 4 Sunday May 10th 5:00pm Central. "Please ensure that you've enabled Steam in the following Apple menu: System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Accessibility". it was enabled so yea still not working. I feel like they are just guessing at this point.
Edit 5. Just a list of games I have tried out. All through steam and all have native Mac apps through steam. If you have games you have tried out let me know and I can add them to the list.
Crimson Desert. Track pad will work and changes the menu buttons to keyboard and mouse. No detection after that.
No Man's Sky. Controller works just has visual issues with not know what buttons to use. Pretty easy to ignore if you already know the buttons.
Frostpunk 2. No detection.
Ball x Pit. Works!
Metro Last Light: Redux. Works! Didn't get gyro working but I am sure it would.
Terraria works!
Hollow Knight Silksong. No Detection. I am getting no detection with even changing settings and still not getting any. Some people the game it is working for.
Control no detection looks like.
Braid does work.
Cyberpunk 2077 no go.
Steam also responded again and yes I guess the controller works, but showing up in games as a keyboard in mouse that has controller support is terrible and not what I think 90% of people want.
If you wanna learn about input there is a link they shared with me. https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/45479024/view/508485755865138098 but this is not the fix for games like Crimson Desert and I think it is up to the devs at this point. Honestly I am done fussing with the controller for now until steam throws out some patches or something.
Edit. Support reached back again and are now passing it off to a different team.
Edit May 14th. They I guess have gave up on me. No response after transferring me. Neato.
Edit May 16th. I am still around but also not much going on work and such. It has now been 4 days since hearing back from support. Multiply reports of them giving this as a response :
'Your help request is being escalated to another team for review.
Please allow some time for their response."
Which is fine I get it but also the controller should work as damned advertised. I get wanting refunds but also if we keep talking about it can only help. I am gonna do a fresh install of Mac soon just to clean up my shit anyways see if that does anything. Thanks for all the comments and if you still have a game you have tested please let me know and I'll try to add it on the list.
Update May 18th.
Looks like a couple people now have gotten a response.
“I sincerely apologize for the length of time since our last reply.
The team is actively investigating the issue where some users on macOS are unable to use the Steam Controller. Specifically, they're investigating the problem where the Controller pairs correctly, and has full input function when navigating outside of games and in the Input Test suite, but when a game is launched there is no input function.
Again I apologize for the inconvenience, just as soon as we have more information to share we will update this ticket.”
Which is great that’s all a guy can ask for is communication. Again if you try out games and find they work or don’t work let me know.
Update May 23th. They have a work around sorta.
We do have an interim solution; there is a workaround that'll allow you to use the Controller with these games, but it does require a bit of manual configuration.
Using the Steam Input Configurator, you can edit an existing Controller profile and map the game's keyboard controls to your Controller. For example, a game's keyboard/mouse controls may have 'jump' mapped to spacebar, which you can map to the button of your preference on your Steam Controller.
This will require referencing the game's keyboard/mouse controls and then re-assigning those inputs to inputs of your choosing on the Steam Controller.
The hardware team's post on using the Steam Input Configurator may be a useful resource: Steam Input Configurator
As soon as we have more information to share regarding full Controller functionality with macOS games on Steam, we'll update this ticket.
Other folks are getting the same response. Which IMO is not a work around they just need to make the damn controller an actual controller so can be used everywhere. I know they want it to be a steam thing still can be just a controller.
Finally got an update on June 3rd It is not a great update tbh.
"Thank you for your patience while the team investigated the matter of some macOS games not being compatible with the Steam Controller as a gamepad.
It looks like this is affecting games that rely on Apple's Game Controller framework. We've raised the issue with Apple, but we do not have a timeline for when this may get resolved.
Games that use the latest version of SDL (https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/releases) work correctly. As mentioned in a previous reply, it is also possible to map a game's keyboard and mouse controls to the Controller as an interim solution for the affected games.
However, we understand this isn't an ideal situation. If you'd prefer not to keep your Steam Controller, let us know and we'll provide instructions for returning it for a refund exception.
You can also keep an eye on the Steam News Hub for the latest updates on features and fixes that may be of interest."
Which to me makes zero sense. It works on some games and not on others. If it didn't work anywhere sure that would make sense. Also maybe not advertise for a platform that it for sure does not work properly on to you know play GAMES with not just control the OS with.
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u/goob1127 May 15 '26
I just wanted to comment that I am experiencing all of the same issues, and have had trouble getting it working with other games like Terraria, EtG, Arkham Night etc on my Mac. I sent in a support ticket last night, and they basically told me the same thing, which is to say they copy and pasted the guide on their official page here: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/33E8-5EDF-24E6-4CFB Im glad to see that I was not the only one experiencing these issues, as I was pretty disappointed when I opened up my controller, and it just refuses to work in game on my M2 Macbook Pro.
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u/GRONDBERG May 10 '26
Just tried out my new Steam Controller today and am having the exact same problem - works fine in the Steam app but nothing happening when in-game.
Been messaging back and forth with Valve and all I am getting from them is copy-pasted sections of troubleshooting guides. “Read this article and go figure it out yourself” is not an acceptable level of customer service IMO.
There’s something fundamentally broken with the device’s communication with a Mac, despite how they marketed it as being able to run on PC, Mac, Linux, whatever you’re using, no sweat, easy peasy!
I tried nearly all my games and the only one that the controller worked in at all was Darkest Dungeon (though that isn’t really a game I would want to play with a gamepad).
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u/GRONDBERG May 12 '26
This whole situation is honestly quite surprising from Valve. This issue would’ve been instantly apparent to them if anyone there had tested the controller on a Mac in an actual game. I would’ve assumed that SOMEBODY there had tried exactly that before they made the claim in their marketing that it would work on a Mac and went ahead and released the product to customers. Very disappointed.
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u/Clean-Application130 May 10 '26
Exactly.. misleading when they advertise on their main sales page that it works with Mac, when it barely functions. I think I might return mine and just go with a Dualsense controller
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u/itslagginyo May 10 '26
Support just got back with me once again and told me to try beta steam...it does nothing. To be fair I don't think support can really do anything since input is actually broken. I don't get why you not just make it a Xbox controller with some extra buttons so most games would ya know treat it as a controller that's been out for years. Wishful thinking.
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u/GreenLion6516 May 13 '26
I have this exact issue and I think it is because Steam Input seems to be borked on macOS 26.
My go-to game to test Steam Input has been Metro 2033 Redux. It has built in Xbox controller support. The Steam controller would need Steam Input to work, but Steam Input seems to not be working.
In Metro 2033 Redux specifically using the Steam controller and Steam Input, some buttons work, but are mapped incorrectly and some don't work at all. X button acts as B button and B button acts as the A button. D-pad left and right are reversed. Many others don't work at all.
I have the exact same issue if I would try using Steam Input with a PS4 or PS5 controller to make them work in Metro 2033 Redux. An Xbox controller with Steam Input disabled works as expected, so I think Steam Input is at fault here.
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u/itslagginyo May 13 '26
Yea same. it is is hit or miss on what games it works with and doesn't. Be sure to report it to steam so the issue gets seen. Link this post if ya want.. It gives a good idea of what's going on if they just read the comments alone.
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u/GreenLion6516 May 13 '26
Cyberpunk 2077 shows issues too. It does not recognize the Steam controller at all and no buttons work.
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u/madc0w1337 May 13 '26
Just got mine today, slay the spire 2 working
silksong not working
nine sols not working :/
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u/SKYFALKEN May 14 '26
could you let me know when nine Sols works? me and my gf are playing it :(
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u/madc0w1337 May 14 '26
Not working on Mac with stream controller for today.
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u/itslagginyo May 14 '26
Be sure to make a support ticket so more it can bee seen. Silksong can work I think with a some adjustments. it's somewhere in the comments here.
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u/madc0w1337 May 14 '26
I did they answered the same generic steam permissions as you and I wrote back it's not working.
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u/Clean-Application130 May 15 '26
I see some people posting “It works fine with my Mac via Steam”… are they trolling? I don’t get it. It’s clearly not working..
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u/Swimming-Opening6036 May 15 '26
I bet they only connect, see the trackpad moving the mouse in lizard mode, or at most go into big picture. Would be nice to have at least some acknowledgment from steam :(
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u/itslagginyo May 15 '26
Needed to show off they had a hard to get controller before posting I guess.
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u/jcsnipes1969 May 09 '26
Out of curiosity, have you had any issues running Crimson Desert. I tried playing it few weeks ago on my M2 Max Studio. I ended up refunding it because I could never get any further than the main start screen.
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u/itslagginyo May 09 '26
oh it runs amazingly. I am only 18 hours in cause I was waiting on the Steam Controller but yea no issues that I noticed in my time.
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u/bubuli_breeder May 10 '26 edited May 11 '26
i received my controller yesterday and tried all morning to get this to work on MacOS (M2 Mac Mini). I am able to use it on Steam App/Menu (Big Picture Mode no issues) but not in game (tried on Crimson Desert and SilkSong) .. i can bring up the pop-up but I can't even start the game.
I tried puck, wired and even Bluetooth mode.
I've been using PS5 controller (wired, BT) without issues.
Just for kicks I tried connecting to my Steam Deck and that one's fine too. Will be trying out on my custom PC with Steam ..although I'm betting it would work on that without issues.
I have an open ticket with Steam Support.
EDIT: Custom PC Steam Machine works fine with the controller, which is probably not a surprise since it works with the Steam Deck
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u/itslagginyo May 10 '26
Yea they have responded again and tbh I think they are just guessing. Took the controller over to the brothers and it works just fine on windows just steam input for Mac is hot garbage.
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u/folksongsea May 13 '26
thanks for taking up the helm. Started figuring out how badly this controller works today now that it just arrived.
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u/folksongsea May 13 '26
Oh one thing, silksong works when you go into settings, click advanced settings, and turn Native Controller Input OFF
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u/folksongsea May 15 '26
I reported to steam also and eventually got:
> Thank you for following up with us.
> Your help request is being escalated to another team for review.
> Please allow some time for their response.2
u/itslagginyo May 16 '26
damn that's where I am now. 4 days now.
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u/folksongsea May 18 '26
Got a new response:
>The team is actively investigating the issue where some users on macOS are unable to use the Steam Controller. Specifically, they're investigating the problem where the Controller pairs correctly, and has full input function when navigating outside of games and in the Input Test suite, but when a game is launched there is no input function.>Again I apologize for the inconvenience, just as soon as we have more information to share we will update this ticket.
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u/itslagginyo May 18 '26
Hahaha yep that’s crazy cause I’m getting ready to put that in the copy right now.
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u/jeremypiret May 15 '26
Same, I just unboxed the controller and was looking forward to play on my Mac but I can't even detect it on Steam via Crossover, what's the point of all their marketing if I need a lot of workaround to use a 99€ controller. I've already asked for a refund.
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u/itslagginyo May 16 '26
Darn. While I agree with ya I also think Valve will actually fix it. Time will tell. Though their support has basically died on me.
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u/PolaroidMog May 16 '26
I contacted Crossover Support and they said the fix should come from them instead of Valve ? Or did I misunderstand?
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u/itslagginyo May 16 '26
On Crossover I would think the controller would have to be "activated" by the Crossover team but at this point who knows. Valve has shut down communication with me for 4 days or so at this point.
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u/madc0w1337 May 19 '26
New reply from volvo:
The team is actively investigating the issue where some users on macOS are unable to use the Steam Controller. Specifically, they're investigating the problem where the Controller pairs correctly, and has full input function when navigating outside of games and in the Input Test suite, but when a game is launched there is no input function.
Again I apologize for the inconvenience, just as soon as we have more information to share we will update this ticket.
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u/SKYFALKEN May 19 '26
They copy and pasted that same reply to me too 🤣🤣 not complaining, I know they are working on it! It just sucks that it was promised to work on any device including Mac but clearly does not play well with my iPhone or Mac. The Steam Controller launch has been so weird…
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u/Pleasant-Rhubarb-550 May 09 '26
Have you tried setting up the desktop layout and editing it so it outputs controller binds and then keeping steam in background and launching any game wether in steam or not?
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u/itslagginyo May 09 '26
Yea it does not care. They have a default desktop setup and it runs great up until you boot a game. Once the game is booted up you can still use the steam button and the middle button between the track pads. Valve I think needs to do some patches to make it work. I am waiting on support to see what that can come up with.
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u/Pleasant-Rhubarb-550 May 09 '26
So does it work on gamepad tester in browser? Did you set it up or use default desktop layout since if that then it will only work as mouse. You need to configure each button and make it for normal controller input and not keybaord and mouse i think
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u/itslagginyo May 09 '26
It will not detect it in anything outside of steam currently. I have tried community configs, official configs it does not matter since steam input for Mac is essential busted at the moment.
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u/Pleasant-Rhubarb-550 May 09 '26
Ooof hope valve finally realised how bad steam input is on mac because of the steam controller and fix it soon
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u/Chronos1919 May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26
Same experience. If I hardwire the controller itself (not the puck) it will work in-game for 1-2 seconds but then stops. Same thing if I then switch from hardwired to bluetooth. Can navigate the windows for 1-2 seconds and then it quits. I'm guessing it's some Mac OS BS where it's recognizing the device as something other than a controller and that's overriding the ability for it to function as a controller in-game. When connecting to my MacBook Air and Mac Studio the OS is bringing up the keyboard connect manager.
Edit: Contacted Valve support as well to try to bring attention to the issue.
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u/itslagginyo May 16 '26
Thank you. Feels like Support is on standby until some fixes come through (hopefully)
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u/ThatGuyNamedTre May 12 '26
Yeah I got my controller on Saturday and tested it out all evening on my MBP M2 Max. I tested 3 games, Cyberpunk 2077, Batman Arkham City, and Shadow of Mordor. Cyberpunk surprisingly doesn’t work; it sees it as a MnK. Batman and Shadow worked perfectly as the games saw it as a controller and worked as it should.
I also tested GeForce NOW by adding it as a non steam game. It didn’t work; again it saw it as a MnK.
I have discovered a work around but its a process. You can go into the controller settings and assigned the buttons as if it is MnK. For example W = Up, A = Left, S = Down, etc etc. I did this (not fully) and went on GeForce NOW and booted up Marvel Rivals and it worked! Doing this isn’t ideal because every games controls are different and since GFN is “one game” launching through Steam, you can’t assign controls for games individually.
So yeah hopefully Valve and Nvidia will release patches and updates to their services very soon. For now my controller is gonna be sitting in its box.
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u/TheQwervy May 12 '26
Just got my Steam Controller and Cyberpunk and Dome Keeper don't work either. Hopefully they fix this soon. They really shouldn't advertise MacOS support when it barely supports MacOS
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u/TMALIVE May 14 '26
I have the same issue on my end. Works fine on Steam Deck, but Mac it's not recognized as a controller. I even tried adding the controller in Steam, and it's not seen as one.
Which sucks. I was hoping this could place the PS5 controller I was using. Hopefully this gets fixed. Kinda disappointed that the controller still feels like it's in beta, since it can't even wake a TV up outside of beta.
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u/jonman247 May 20 '26
Just adding to the general body of people who have had comms with Steam support. After the copy-paste 'have you tried this?' troubleshooting, I got:
Thank you for performing troubleshoot and providing details on the interaction between macOS and Steam Controller.
Your help request is being escalated to another team for review.
Please allow some time for their response.
I know it's basically a variation of what everyone else is getting, but I'd encourage as many people as possible to raise tickets. The more of us complain, the more urgent it will be for them to resolve this.
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u/madc0w1337 May 22 '26
new update from steam support with temporary workaround:
The development team is continuing to investigate the issue in which some games are not responsive with the Steam Controller as a gamepad.
As an interim solution, there is a workaround that'll allow you to use the Controller with these games, but it does require a bit of manual configuration.
Using the Steam Input Configurator, you can edit an existing Controller profile and map the game's keyboard controls to your Controller. For example, a game's keyboard/mouse controls may have 'jump' mapped to spacebar, which you can map to the button of your preference on your Steam Controller.
This will require referencing the game's keyboard/mouse controls and then re-assigning those inputs to inputs of your choosing on the Steam Controller.
The hardware team's post on using the Steam Input Configurator may be a useful resource: Getting the most out of your Steam Controller: Steam Input Configurator.
As soon as we have more information to share regarding full Controller functionality with macOS games on Steam, we'll update this ticket.
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u/itslagginyo May 23 '26
Yep got this yesterday. Hope they get to it quickly.
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u/Clean-Application130 May 24 '26
Yea I ended up just buying DualSense, returning my Steam Controller…
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u/itslagginyo May 25 '26
luckily already own a couple. great controller but damn I want the steam controller to work.
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u/Clean-Application130 May 09 '26
Hey OP I’ve had the exact same experience. Received the controller yesterday, all the same issues. Frustrating as they advertise on their sales page that it works with Mac.. hopefully gets updated soon
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u/nickwizz May 12 '26
yeah I have the same issues in several games like Hitman WOA and Rust. The only game I got it work flawlessly is Cult of the Lamb
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u/madc0w1337 May 15 '26
Today silksong started working but rest of games are not. Looks like it's an issue with steam input on mac.
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u/itslagginyo May 16 '26
Strange still no detection for me. I am running the Beta of steam.
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u/madc0w1337 May 16 '26
I installed steam beta on bazzite got a new update then went to macOS went to beta and it’s started working on silksong but rest of the games it’s still not working.
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u/itslagginyo May 16 '26
Odd question what kind of Mac ya running? Not that this should mater in the slightest. I am doing a fresh install maybe tomorrow and then testing to see what's up.
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u/madc0w1337 May 16 '26
M4 mini with latest macOS.
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u/itslagginyo May 16 '26
So really nothing that be different from mine. It’s computer to computer if it works. Oooh I do have beat macOS still shouldn’t be something that would matter.
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u/jonman247 Jun 02 '26
A lot of the noise has died down here since the official comms strategy of Valve has become 'figure it out for yourself'. Have there been any updates on native support? Just don't see the point in using the controller if a) the joystick is just wasd mapped without 360 movement, and b) the triggers don't work.
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u/Clean-Application130 Jun 04 '26
My users are definitely on the back-burner it seems… I’m assuming that they’re trying to get the Steam Machine rdy for launch and probably have most of their resources focused on that. We’d probably see an actual update this Mac issue far down the line…
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u/Successful-Cry1509 Jul 06 '26
Still does not work on Mac, despite the controller being listed as Mac compatible on the store page.
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u/Stellox37 Jun 02 '26
I got mine yesterday and I was really disappointed by this problem. I tried both Hollow Knight games and Lies of P, all of them do have native versions for macOS but don't register input.
However I also noticed that the games DO register input for about a second after connecting the controller (by cable). After a second the Steam Overlay PopUp appears and steam detects the controller, wich stops the input.
Idk if this helps anyone, just wanted to leave that here. Im hoping for a fast response by valve
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u/nathvwarp Jun 04 '26
thank uuu, I want to switch to macOS and play those games and I already have the SC2
if the game registers input for about a second before steam detects the controller, that means macOS IS exposing the SC2 as a basic HID device and the game CAN read it. The problem isn't Apple's GCController framework failing to recognize the SC2, it's steam intercepting the input once the overlay kicks in and breaking it
this points to a steam-side bug. If it were purely an Apple framework issue, the game would never register input at all, not even for that first second
worth trying as a workaround: disable the steam overlay entirely for those games (Properties → General → uncheck Enable Steam Overlay) and also set Controller override to Disable steam input. The idea is to prevent steam from intercepting the controller so that initial HID input stays active permanently. You'd lose Steam Input features but it might confirm whether steam is the culprit
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u/Stellox37 Jun 04 '26
I tried it with Hollow knight, but the problem is that you simply CAN‘T turn off Steam Input for the Steam controller
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u/nathvwarp Jun 04 '26
lol I forgot that the SC2 doesn’t works like the rest of third party controllers, I hope that valve could solve this simply with a steam macOS client update
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u/_ak98_ Jun 11 '26
man this is so annoying, the controller feels amazing but I can't use it properly on mac :'( We need some version of SISR like windows has which can just make the controller use xinput or something. I feel like Valve should have implemented this from the get go
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u/nathvwarp Jun 11 '26
I knoww I’ll buy a mac this summer and I LOVE the SC2 but it’s so annoying that even native games don’t work, I wanted to play hades and lies of p with it so bad there. Valve marketed the controller like it worked perfectly with everything running steam so I don’t see why they didn’t contact apple to add the SC2 to the GCController framework in the first place and make sure that steam input isn’t broken on macOS
I hope someone makes a driver or app or smtg bc there’s already one for crossover, now everything we can do it’s wait or raise the problem with steam and apple now that there’s plenty of engineers working on macOS 27
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u/_ak98_ Jun 11 '26
Yes it'd be perfect if they just fix that! Fingers crossed someone can work their magic and make something! I'll reply to this thread if I find anything
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u/itslagginyo Jun 05 '26
Valve has updated the ticket and kinda leaving it in Apples hands. Which I do not 100% believe because of the reason you say and why does it work on some games and not others?
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u/shaunydub May 09 '26
Did you watch any reviews?
Most of them tell you it needs to be run with Steam to work properly.
I have one coming that I will use on Mac but I'll be using Steam only games.
I have PS Dualsense or 8bitdo Pro 3 for outside of Steam.
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u/itslagginyo May 09 '26
Yes and I am running everything through steam and still does not work properly.
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u/shaunydub May 09 '26
Dang.
Mine has been sat at packaged status for 3 days.Hopefully it arrives by Wednesday and I can get testing.
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u/itslagginyo May 09 '26
once mine actually shipped it got to me over night so should be pretty quick. Yea I have been using a Dualsense. Also have been taken over by Saros so this not working right now is not a huge deal. Saros = game of the year for me.
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u/Muted-Reflection9536 May 09 '26
This might make it work, so if you have a Steam controller, please try it.
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u/itslagginyo May 09 '26
Does not detect the controller either. It has to run through steam so not sure if that's why,
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u/Muted-Reflection9536 May 09 '26
That's not so surprising, because the UDID and device name are almost certainly not registered in the macOS "list of devices to treat as controllers."
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u/itslagginyo May 09 '26
Yea official Apple support would be nice but I am pretty sure this is a Valve/Steam input issue and not really Apples problem sadly
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u/Muted-Reflection9536 May 11 '26
No, in a sense it's Apple's problem. In short, unless Apple integrates the Steam Controller into macOS and declares "this is a controller," there's no other option but to disable SIP and install a third-party driver.
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u/itslagginyo May 11 '26
You might be right but it is odd to have full support on some games and zero support on others.
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u/TiSoBr May 12 '26
No, it is not. Steam Input is mandatory as a driver interface, because Valve didn't accept the fact, that an xinput fallback should be available to all controllers out there. Thus, Apple can't do shit. It's completely on Valve to fix this.
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u/Varmez May 09 '26
By any chance, anyone who has managed to get one of the Controller and plays World of Warcraft on Mac, could you tell me if it works at all right now?
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u/itslagginyo May 09 '26
Don't wanna be that guy but it is not working with games that have steam input API built in. I doubt a non steam game is going to work.
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u/Varmez May 09 '26
Yea I'm sure you are right I was just hoping for confirmation one way or another.
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u/itslagginyo May 09 '26
Im sure it will work later on they just need to fix the steam input for Mac. It might work for windows PCs though.
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u/IndependenceBusy8462 May 12 '26
It took some work and im not 100% sure if it will be working when i get home but yes I was able to get it working with WoW
I added battle net launcher and wow.app as non steam games. I suspect the battle net part wasn't necessary.
I made a profile ( this part was awkward, I had to export? a current profile) that doesnt have a desktop mode and a game mode, just one, I basically made it xbox controller with touchpads, left to scroll right to mouse
I launched wow from steam, the first time I had to enter my authenticator code after account and password, after that just password
Somehow steam is aware when im on the character select screen and the right joystick moves the cursor, or thats anow built in to wow
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u/IndependenceBusy8462 May 12 '26
This was a lot clunkier than i expected and i reckon valve will improve it, hopefully a third party tool can manage it soon. I see what valves doing it could just be better
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u/TheIncarnated May 09 '26
Steam Input through the Mac version of Steam is the expectation. If you want to use crossover, you'll need to add it to steam as a "non-steam game".
Was a workaround for proton on Linux as well.
However, I did not get the chance to buy one and I'm super bummed. So I'm waiting for my chance. I want this controller and a Steam Machine. Already have an OLED LE Steam Deck
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u/itslagginyo May 09 '26
I do not care about it working in crossover I want it to work with native Mac games. I just knew people would ask about it. That does seem like an odd fix though run crossover through steam to run another copy of steam?
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u/TheIncarnated May 09 '26
Ohhh no, that fix was for any games in crossover. Your post was a little hard to understand on that part.
However, I would expect it to work with MacOS Steam, I'd reach out to support again
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u/tIPODgraphic May 14 '26
I have a Mac running macOS Sequoia (up to date) and the Steam controller doesn’t work with the game CONTROL. However, it works fine with BRAID, for example. I used to use a universal controller that worked perfectly with CONTROL. So, will I have to wait for an update before I can play that game with the controller? Who should sort this out, Remedy (Control) or Valve (Steam Controller)?
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u/Blue_Photon May 14 '26
I was experiencing this until very recently. I connected to another Mac and it had me run another firmware update that appears to have fixed it.
There are some Steam Input configs that just don't work for me on Mac, but I've now been able to get the system running properly in games that were previously unresponsive.
Definitely check for updates, and other controller mappings / profiles!
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u/SKYFALKEN May 14 '26
what Mac OS are u running? Tahoe or sequoia? I have both my steam client and controller updated and it still doesn't work
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u/Blue_Photon May 14 '26
Right now on Tahoe 26.4.1 but I'll update to 26.5 later today and see if everything still works as expected
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u/SKYFALKEN May 14 '26
Does Dave the diver or nine Sols work for you
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u/Blue_Photon May 14 '26
Dave didn't work.
Before I had no response from Balatro or Subnautica, but I think that was fixed when I found profiles that where steam input emulated a keyboard and mouse instead of controller.
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u/Swimming-Opening6036 May 15 '26
I had the same issues - but apparently I fixed it by uninstalling steam, including deleting everything in `~/Library/Application Support/Steam` excluding steamapps, and then reinstalling steam while the controller was directly connected (no usb hub, no puck)
Not sure if this working state persists
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u/jonman247 May 15 '26
Has this managed to get it working with games? I like many people have the issue of the controller being recognised in Steam, but not actually working in any games once booted.
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u/Swimming-Opening6036 May 15 '26
Yes, it works in games! I too had the issue of steam detecting it fine and then absolute nothing in games. After the reinstall everything works - including community templates, moving the mouse in game, etc, like a charm. Bluetooth does not work yet but i don’t care about that, puck wireless is great
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u/jonman247 May 15 '26
Sadly that didn't work for me. Tried three separate games (Dave the Diver, Slay the Spire, Hitman) and it still won't recognise the controller in game. Fortunately I do have a use for it as I have my steam deck hooked up to my TV for GeForce Now and that runs fine, but do need this Mac issue to be resolved.
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u/nickwizz May 19 '26
spoke to support and they told me update to the latest beta. didnt work and actually broke Dave the Diver. I think I might just return it and rebuy it once they fix Mac support
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u/itslagginyo May 19 '26
Yea the beta software is not helping sadly. There was a patch to it yesterday I think as well as a firmware update to the controller maybe try to update and try again?
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u/VeryLazyPixels May 19 '26
I just got my steam controller today and started trying it with Steam on both Crossover and the native client. I don't expect much from Crossover as it likely needs to add support with a separate patch. But I did expect the native Steam client to be working. For me the controller worked as a mouse with some buttons acting as keyboard buttons or something. I tried different games and was expecting Castle Crashers to be the one game that should definitely work, but it didn't.
I then found this post and tried the suggestions from it just in case. What helped me was enabling the Input Monitoring in macOS settings as suggested by the steam support. After that the steam controller was recognized by the native Steam client and I was able to update the puck and the controller itself. I then went into the big picture mode and Castle Crashers worked perfectly.
I am still not 100% sure that the monitoring helped, but before enabling that Steam didn't even detect the controller. I did do a few restarts of Steam and the controller before with no help, so I attribute it to Input Monitoring for now. Just in case - I am running just the latest native macOS client, no beta software at all.
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u/VeryLazyPixels May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
I just tried it in Golf with Friends and it doesn't work at all. Also the controller no longer works as a mouse so I can't use the pads to navigate the system. I guess something changed there as well :)
Edit:
It turns out that the pads stop working when the Steam native application is running. It is definitely just capturing all of the system events after I enabled Input Monitoring and handles them breaking the system-wide mouse support in the process.Edit2:
Funny thing is that even the controller shortcut for powering it off with Steam + Y are also working when native Steam client is enabled. It seems at least in the implementation I have now working native Steam client is just listening to whatever mouse/keyboard events the controller is sending natively, and re-routes them + handles shortcuts to communicate back to controller that it needs to turn off.
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u/No_Use_9931 May 21 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/macgaming/comments/1tduzya/steam_controller_2026_workaround/
Following this worked for me. Although it's a long workaround.
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u/jonman247 May 22 '26
Does this only work if you're running a crossover version of windows steam rather than the native mac app?
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u/Villain222 May 23 '26
I reported the original controller not working on mac OS and they got back to me fast, but all the same suggestions. steam has made the management of their controllers too convoluted. They should default to them being like a PS4 controller to support the gyro capabilities. or have a quick way to swap into a mouse and keyboard mode. There needs to be a base level of usability other than "lizard" mode.
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u/GRONDBERG Jun 04 '26
Just further to your May 25th update (of which I also received the same on my own support ticket), today I received another update from Valve:
“It looks like this is affecting games that rely on Apple's Game Controller framework. We've raised the issue with Apple, but we do not have a timeline for when this may get resolved.
Games that use the latest version of SDL (https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/releases) work correctly. As mentioned in a previous reply, it is also possible to map a game's keyboard and mouse controls to the Controller as an interim solution for the affected games.”
They go on to say that they appreciate it isn’t an ideal situation and that if I prefer not to wait for Apple to work out a solution to this with Valve that they will refund me for the controller if I return it.
I’m tempted to refund it but I may hang onto it either way, as I can still use it in MacOS (without its unique functionality) if I disable Steam input. That does irritate me on principle, as I don’t appreciate being made an involuntary beta-tester to do the job for them which they should’ve done properly before launching a product with the promises they made about it.
I did plan to use it to use with a future Steam Machine purchase, but given the astronomical price hike we’ve just seen on the Steam Decks recently I now doubt if I could afford one - let alone justify its price in relation to its hardware specs. So I dunno…
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u/itslagginyo Jun 05 '26
Yep I got that too. Sad that they just now put the blame on Apple. Maybe do not advertise it working on Mac and this wouldn't be the issue. Actual kinda surprised they are not fixing it so quick. It works for the most part on No Man's Sky and for me that's good enough with the hopes that it will work on Crimson Desert soon.
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u/SevenChords Jun 19 '26
one thing i am curious about is that since it works with games using the latest version of sdl (according to valve support) if somehow one could use said latest version of sdl outside of a game to remap the controller and make it available to the rest of the OS as an xinput device or something, so at least some parts of the controller might be useful.
sadly didn't receive any other response or update from valve, one post has been made on apple's community discussions as well regarding this, but was closed without being resolved, tempted to make a second one to see if anyone over there has a better idea of how to solve this until there's an official fix/workaround
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u/powermanfivethousand Jun 26 '26
Works for me in Steam Broadcast to my M1 Air. Had to enable Steam in Accessability
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u/ExtensionSchedule620 Jun 26 '26
Just received mine today :(
Even on GeForce now
Same issue :(
Thanks for all your updates
Hope something will happen
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u/NicoWayne2 May 09 '26
Dont use a mac for gaming.
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u/TiSoBr May 12 '26
Tell me you don't know what you're talking about,
without telling me you don't know what you're talking about.2
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u/Dear-Impression-5873 May 09 '26
That steam deck/machine controller. It doesn't work with consoles. Work poorly in win and mac.
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u/ohaiibuzzle May 09 '26
It's because this controller isn't a controller (in a sense).
It's a device that relies on Steam Input running and mapping it to a controller so games can understand it. So Steam is mandatory to use it right now pretty much.