Baldur’s Gate 3: How to Enable Controller Support

Baldur’s Gate 3 controller support works right out of the box, but you might have to go through an extra step if you haven’t tinkered with your Steam settings directly before. The game is fully playable with a gamepad and can, in many ways, feel more akin to a third-person RPG than a top-down CRPG. If you’ve connected your input device and it just won’t work, don’t worry. Here’s how to enable controller support in Baldur’s Gate 3.

How to Enable Controller Support in Baldur’s Gate 3

• Baldur’s Gate 3 controller support is comprehensive to a degree that the game swaps the UI when you switch to a gamepad. It switches back again when you use a keyboard and mouse.
• While you should be able to connect and use a controller without any issues, you may have to enable support for the device you’re using in the Steam settings.
• You may have to do this even if you’ve used that one with other games.

Controller support varies from game to game, and sometimes you’ve got to jump through some hoops to use one. That isn’t quite the case with Baldur’s Gate 3, as it should work immediately if you’ve already enabled it through Steam’s controller settings.

How to Enable Controller Support in Steam

I’m unsure whether the game needs to be closed for this step, so just close it just in case. This is a simple process that we’re going to go into step by step:

1. Click the top left Steam icon in your Steam client.
2. Click “Settings.”
3. Click the “Controller” tab to the left of the settings menu.
4. Toggle on the type of controller you have, either Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro, or generic.

This will enable universal support. Once you relaunch Baldur’s Gate 3, you should be able to use your controller from the main menu without any issues. The game’s UI changes completely when using a gamepad, even at the main menu. A single button press should change it to the controller UI at any time, even if you are mid-campaign.

That’s how to enable Baldur’s Gate 3 controller support. Also, know that it does show the correct prompts and buttons for the one you’re using, so there shouldn’t be any confusion there (as can happen sometimes when using a Switch pad with some games on Steam). Look for more Baldur’s Gate 3 guides here on GameSkinny.