Path of Exile was released on PC more than eight years ago but has strangely been missing support for controllers since then, something which will be finally addressed in the near future.
In an announcement made earlier today, developer Grinding Gear Games confirmed that “a beta version of controller support” will be introduced in Path of Exile once patch 3.17.3 goes live in the days to come.
Following the patch, PC players can connect any game controller and change the input method to “Controller (Beta)” from the in-game input options.
The inbound controller support will however be only available for Path of Exile on Steam. The feature will remain unavailable for the game on Epic Games Store, presumably until its beta status is removed.
“This controller support feature will stay in beta until the launch of the 3.18 expansion, and there may be issues in the meantime,” noted Grinding Gear Gears before asking players to report any bugs they might face.
Path of Exile can technically support controllers on PC but through external means. There are streamers who do use third-party tools to play with a controller on Steam by mapping their controls to an Xbox controller. That will no longer be needed once native controller support rolls out for the game on PC.
Elsewhere, Path of Exile 2 remains in “full production mode” after being delayed by at least a couple of years. Grinding Gear Games faced a lot of development challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and is not in favor of pushing a half-baked sequel. The developer is now looking to release the Path of Exile 2 beta somewhere in 2023 at the earliest.
Path of Exile 2 will feature a brand new campaign with a total of seven acts, massive visual improvements, and an overhaul to its core gems and passive tree systems.
