I’m a PC gamer who mainly plays with keyboard and mouse, but from time to time I like to play more casual titles with a controller. Recently, I’ve been obsessed with fifa23 and develop a strong ‘Ultimate Team’ squad.
I have a DualShock 4 that I bought about three years ago, but joystick drift inevitably affected it. The controller is usable, though micro-adjustments and precise movement of the analog sticks is nearly impossible, as the sticks automatically travel more than I want them to.
I invested in a new PS5 DualSense, considering it’s PC compatible just like its predecessor. The easiest way to connect a DualSense to your PC is via a USB-A to USB-C cable. You can also use a USB-C to USB-C cable if your PC/laptop has a USB-C port and enjoy your favorite titles on the go. Similarly, the DualSense can connect to your PC via Bluetooth, so you can game completely wirelessly on your PC, but there are some settings you’ll need to do.
First of all, you need to pair the DualSense with your PC:
- Press the Windows button on your keyboard to open the taskbar and type “Bluetooth”
- Click ‘Bluetooth and other device settings’ to open the Bluetooth settings screen, as seen in the first screenshot below
- Activate Bluetooth and click ‘Add device’
- Click on ‘Bluetooth’ in the ‘Add a device’ list, as seen in the second screenshot below
- Now, press and hold the PS button and the Create button on your DualSense 5 until the lights start blinking
- The controller should appear in the list of nearby Bluetooth devices
- Click ‘Wireless Controller’ to pair. The screen will say: “Your device is ready to go” once the pairing is successful
Your DualSense is now connected to your PC via Bluetooth, but it’s not fully functional yet. Your PC would read the controller like an Xbox Gamepad, so we need to make some changes and tweaks to make the experience perfect and make your PC read the controller like a PlayStation Gamepad.
If you’re playing titles through Steam, the setup process is pretty simple:
- Launch Steam and click ‘Steam’ in the top left corner
- Click ‘Settings’ and then choose ‘Controller’
- Click “General Controller Settings” and enable “PlayStation Settings Support”
Steam will now automatically set your controller, which it’s reading as an Xbox controller, to a PlayStation one. On the same screen, you will see ‘PlayStation 5 Controller’ under the ‘Controller Detected’ tab. From here you can calibrate your controller and adjust dead zones on the analog sticks, and even define the layout in case you want custom bindings.
This setting will work for all games launched through Steam. If you want to play a title from a non-Steam launcher, you’ll need to use a community tool called DS4Windows (follow the link to download, virus free, I promise).
Once downloaded, the tool can download any missing drivers that are required to run the driver. With the DS4 app open, connect your controller to your PC via Bluetooth, and it should show up in the list of controllers, as seen in the first screenshot below. You can now head over to the ‘Profiles’ tab and configure assign custom buttons, change analog stick dead zones, customize lightbar color, customize touchpad, gyroscope and more.
Many PC games allow you to unlock the full potential of DualSense. games like Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Sackboy: High Adventure, F1 22, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and many others support haptic feedback and adaptive triggers on PC. See a full list of compatible games at PCGamingWiki.
#Heres #PS5 #DualSense #controller