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?
Steam – use a PC/PS3 game controller to play games on Steam
controllerssteamtechnical-issues
Related Solutions
In the Store page of every Steam Game you can check if one of these symbols is available.
or
Usually in all recent games (2-3 years), if a controller is enabled, there are high possibility that Microsoft Xbox 360 works and is well supported.
But to be sure I always suggest to take a look to that game specific forum. Most of times there are users that already asked for Xbox 360 compatibility.
You probably could have unlocked it with motionJoy if you had done so earlier.
As per the SteamMachines page:
On October 25th, the list will be locked. So complete the quest before then!
Since that date has come and gone, you seem to have missed your chance.
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Best Answer
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
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.