Xbox Gamepad Leads on Steam - Valve Publishes Controller Stats
Valve prepared some more help for game developers. We're talking about reports on the use of gamepads on Steam, among which Xbox controller takes the top spot.
- Valve offers extensive reports for game developers on gamepad usage on Steam;
- The authors mention that Xbox controllers are the most popular of all gamepads in many games on Steam;
- Valve's announcement also included the percentage of gamepad sessions depending on genre.
For years Steam has been the undisputed leader in digital game distribution. For this reason, the data collected by the platform is a valuable source of information, especially for game developers. Hence the new features prepared by Valve especially for developers. The latest feature is a report on the controllers used Steam gamers. Thanks to this, studios can check how and how often buyers use selected gamepads in a given title.
Although the published announcement is mainly aimed at game developers, it also included a handful of interesting stats. As it was given, nearly 48 million Steam users rely on a gamepad, and about 10% of daily sessions are played with this type of controller. No stats were given for individual hardware manufacturers. However, it was mentioned that on average in 24% of all sessions players used PlayStation controllers, and Xbox controllers dominate in many titles. The latter's popularity is due in part to its integration into many game engines and the ease with which developers can add support for these devices.
Additionally, the message briefly mentions the use of controllers in different genres of games. It will come as no surprise that the most popular controller use is for racing and skateboarding games (over 90% of sessions), as well as fighting and sports games (over 70% of sessions). In adventure and TPP action games it is usually 40-50% of sessions. Far fewer players use a controller in FPSs, but 7-8% of games played with a gamepad is still much more than you'd expect on PC. Worse still are the strategy games, where this value does not exceed 1% of sessions. However, the fact that even in those titles people are still willing to reach for a gamepad is, as Valve put it, "somewhat surprising".
Of course, such data is just a curiosity for gamers, but it can be crucial for developers. For example, the fact that the DualShock or DualSense is used by a much smaller percentage of gamers than average in a given game could mean that developers need to refine their gamepad support. Valve also reminded studios to show icons (either their own or those provided by the Steam API) on screen when a button needs to be pressed.
