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I bought a PC/PS3 game controller to play my Steam games on PC. It works in Steam's Big Picture mode but it doesn't work ingame. How can I get it to work, or do I have to use an Xbox dedicated controller?

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  • Possibly. using Inputmapper you can have a Dualshock 4 Controller (PS4) Emulate an X-Box Controller, though i've never used it for any PC Games other than Emulators and i haven't tried it with my PS3 Controllers to see if they work
    – Memor-X
    Commented Dec 29, 2016 at 21:45
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    It may also be just the game. Could you tell which game you're having trouble with, or are there multiple?
    – DJ Pirtu
    Commented Dec 29, 2016 at 21:46
  • Not sure if an answer so ill put it as a comment, but officially steam will not always support ps3/ps4 controllers but some games will support it. The most sure way to get a dualshock controller working on pretty much any game is to use a type of emulator that basically "tricks" your computer into thinking your controller is a xbox controller. Something like DS4Windows would work pretty well.
    – user75001
    Commented Dec 29, 2016 at 23:00

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You can use a PlayStation 3 DualShock 3 controller, but they're not plug and play and overall people tend to go for a Logitech 710 or 770 because there's less hassle. Connecting with a USB registers it as a Generic USB Controller. To get more from it, you'll have to configure it with additional software, in most cases.

There are several methods to accomplish this. The two main methods are with SCP or MotionJoy (not both). MotionJoy is depreciated in most cases and the software is usually found on sites users report gave them a virus or malware. Additionally, MotionJoy requires a Bluetooth adapter for the DS3 to work.

Outlined on this Steam Community Forum post, downloading SCP makes the DS3 controller work in Steam and Windows.

The SCP download page has the following instructions:

SCP

Pre-Instal

1.) Update your 360 controller drivers if you haven't done so.

2.) Make sure you have Microsoft .NET 4.0 and Visual C 2013 installed

New Install

Connect your Dongle and controller via USB and let Windows install its default drivers.

Unpack the archive.

Create a directory where you want the Service to run from. Recommend - "C:\ScpServer". Create from an elevated command prompt if you have UAC enabled. The directory should not be created anywhere off your User directory (eg on your Desktop, or in your Downloads directory), it should also not be on a Network drive.

Copy the contents of the ScpServer\bin to the directory you created. Run ScpDriver.exe.

Windows XP/Vista - check the Force Install option. Win 7/8/8.1/10 leave it unchecked.

Click Install.

Click Exit.

Users in the Steam Forum are reporting this still works with Windows 10 because it's wrapped as an XB controller.

AS AN ASIDE

PS4 controllers are supported in Windows 10 and Steam is adding native support. Sony already sells a wireless PC adapter (and despite Xbox One controllers being plug and play, the wireless adapter is also sold my Microsoft for their brand). Many Steam Games developers already include mappings for PS4 controllers using the ABXY button configuration because all controllers in Steam use the same API (icon change is up to the developer), so if you're looking to use a PlayStation Controller, you will have much better support using the DS4 over the DS3, especially in today's platform market.

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  • MotionJoy worked fine with a cable, it doesn't need a Bluetooth adapter. But everything else you cover about it is true (including the potential for malware delivery through dodgy advertising plugins)
    – Robotnik ♦
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 0:36
  • True, and good point. I assumed like most of these question types the user was seeking the BT route .
    – Shawn Gordon
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 0:39
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Yes you can! You can download and install ds4windows

It works by virtually acting as an Xbox controller.

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