Controller Support

Supported Controllers on PC

Tears of Metal on PC supports Xbox-style controllers out of the box, including Xbox Wireless Controller, Xbox Elite Series pads, and most controllers Steam Input recognizes. PlayStation controllers work through Steam Input or native glyph swaps where Paper Cult provides them. Generic DirectInput controllers may need manual mapping in Steam for battalion bumpers to register reliably.

Early Access launches July 22, 2026 on Steam, the Microsoft Store, and PC Game Pass. Game Pass players on PC should expect identical controller behavior to Steam builds, though overlay shortcuts differ—disable conflicting Xbox Game Bar capture keys if bumpers double-trigger system menus. An Xbox console version is planned later in 2026 with layout parity expected, but this page focuses on PC Early Access until console cert details ship.

Default Gamepad Layout

Movement uses the left stick with deadzone sliders in Settings. Camera rotates with the right stick, with optional invert and sensitivity curves for musou crowd fights where you spin constantly. Face buttons handle light attack, heavy attack, dodge, and interact depending on the active hero template—glyphs in the pause menu always show current bindings after patches.

Bumpers and triggers split hero skills and battalion commands. A common pattern places battalion follow and hold on left and right bumpers, recall on a long-press modifier, and focus target on a stick click or directional pad entry. Ultimate abilities often map to both triggers pressed together or a dedicated face button long-press to prevent accidental fire during dodge cancels.

The directional pad navigates Emblem choice screens, Charm shops, and campaign map branches when analog precision is unnecessary. Menu navigation supports full controller parity so you never need a keyboard to configure village upgrades between Acts.

• Left stick: move hero
• Right stick: camera
• Face buttons: attack chain, dodge, interact (see in-game glyphs)
• Bumpers: battalion orders and skill modifiers
• Triggers: heavy skills / ultimates (hero-specific)
• D-pad: map navigation and build menus
• View / Menu buttons: pause and system overlays

Steam Deck and Handheld PCs

Steam Deck players should enable Steam Input community layouts if rear paddles are available—assign battalion recall and focus to paddles so thumbs never leave sticks during Wallace combo strings. Lower crowd density settings help maintain 60 FPS targets on Deck LCD; OLED models handle Act 3 particle-heavy scenes better but still benefit from conservative fidelity presets during four-player co-op.

Battery life drops sharply in online co-op with voice chat and haptics enabled. Paper Cult recommends reducing rumble intensity and limiting frame caps to 40 when playing unplugged on long flights. Verify Proton compatibility notes on the Steam store page at launch; Early Access day-one builds sometimes need a small compatibility flag update within the first week.

Handheld PCs from other vendors should mirror Deck advice: paddles for orders, conservative camera sensitivity, and wired headphones for co-op callouts because built-in speakers make elite audio telegraphs harder to hear.

Co-op Controller Etiquette

Four-player online co-op magnifies visual clutter. Controller aim assist is stronger than mouse by default to keep parity; do not shame gamepad players for using assist in PvE—it is a co-op roguelike, not a competitive arena. Ping defaults should stay on a face-adjacent button every player knows; changing ping to a deep menu combo frustrates public lobbies.

Mixed input groups—keyboard and controller—are common on PC Game Pass. Agree on elite callouts verbally because battalion focus markers stack visually. If someone plays on Steam Deck while others use desktop PCs, latency is usually fine on stable connections, but host migration quirks can appear in Early Access; host the lobby on the most stable wired connection when pushing Act 3.

See the Controls Hub for layered input philosophy or Keyboard Controls when switching devices between sessions.