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- Make sure that your Gameplay Input is set to Controller in Settings.
- Quit other launchers before starting Ubisoft Connect and XDefiant.
Players have been reporting issues when it comes to playing XDefiant with a controller on PC. The problem seems to stem from the controller detection mixup on Windows. If you are one of the affected players, we have a few fixes that you can try.
Guide to fix controller not working on PC
The reason your controller is not working in XDefiant seems to come from a detection conflict on your PC. While your controller may be connected and working in other games, XDefiant won’t be able to detect it due to a technical bug. However, here’s what you can do to fix this:
1. Check that your controller is turned on in XDefiant
Sometimes it’s not a matter of a bug but simply settings not being properly set up. In XDefiant, head to the Settings menu and check that you are using controller instead of mouse and keyboard. To do that, look at the Gameplay & UI tab – the option on top should be set to Controller. After that, you can also set up additional controller options under the Controller tab, like Aim Assist, Key Mapping, and more.
2. Quit other launchers and restart Ubisoft Connect
Because this bug seems to be tied to controller detection, try this simple solution first. First, quit Ubisoft Connect, then turn off Steam, Epic Games Launcher, GOG, and any launcher that’s running on your system. After that, start Ubisoft Connect again and try playing XDefiant.
3. Edit game files
If you’re still having trouble with XDefiant not detecting your controller, you can manually change the settings. You’ll have to edit some files to do that, so here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Head over to the following folder: Documents/My Games/XDefiant
- Find the file with the name bc_general_settings_[long unique string of letters and numbers].cfg
- Right-click the file and select Open with Notepad (or another text editor like Notepad++)
- Press Ctrl+F and find the line GameplayInput_v0, then change it from 0 to 1
- Save changes and try playing XDefiant again
4. Use an alternative software for DualSense controller
Playing with Sony’s DualSense controller can be notoriously difficult on PC. If you’re using one, you might want to consider installing and using an app to help you. For example, you can use a program called DS4Windows which is tailor-made to help run PlayStation’s controller on Windows. After setting it up, try running XDefiant again to test it out.
If none of the above solutions helped, there could be compatibility issues with your controller and XDefiant. In that case, you can try raising the issue with Ubisoft’s support channels to try to find a solution for your case.
