59% of Steam players prefer Xbox gamepads, 26% prefer PlayStation gamepads: since 2018, the average daily use of gamepads has grown from 5% to 15%

We wrote that Hori is creating a licensed gamepad for Steam. This decision is easy to understand, because people who prefer to play on PCs want to play some projects on a gamepad. And thanks to Valve, we have more specific figures on how many players choose gamepads on PC.

Here's What We Know

Steam has shared statistics on the use of gamepads. Since 2018, the average daily use of gamepads has increased from 5% to 15%. Approximately 42% of sessions with a controller use Steam input.

As for the favourite gamepads, 59% of sessions use Xbox gamepads, and 26% use PlayStation gamepads. Steam Deck is also used in 10% of sessions.

The company also shared the new features that gamepad users received on Steam:

• Big Picture mode update. Completely changed the experience of using the controller on Steam by bringing the Steam Deck interface to the big screen.
• New controller configurator. We've revised the way the configurator works and simplified it.
• Aiming with the gyroscope. We've radically changed and improved the way controllers work with the gyroscope, and added a sharp tilt function to the Steam input.
• Virtual menus. The desktop client now supports them.
• Support for PlayStation controllers. In collaboration with Sony, we've improved support for PS controllers, including DualSense Edge, and can now automatically support future third-party gamepads licensed by PlayStation.
• Support for Xbox controllers. We've released a Windows driver that allows us to more reliably support Xbox One controllers, including the back buttons of Xbox Elite controllers.

Source: steamcommunity