Not all of us have extravagant sim racing setups to enjoy Assetto Corsa. Most people enjoy playing the game on just a controller. Sure, it’s not the best way to experience a racing sim, but it’s what most people have. If you have an Xbox controller, it works seamlessly with Assetto Corsa. But if you have the old Dualshock 4 controller, you can have trouble making it work on the game. The Dualshock 4 was notorious for having problems working with games on PC, and it’s the same case for Assetto Corsa. Here are a couple of ways to get Assetto Corsa to work with a PS4 controller.
Method 1: Try Plug And Play
If you are reading this piece, you probably have tried this already, but it’s still worth mentioning. Before you do anything else, just try launching Assetto Corsa and then plug your PS4 controller. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, then we have other ways too.
Secondly, make sure to check everything. For example, try resetting the controller. Just look for a small hole at the back of the controller and use a pin to press the button inside. Also, try using a different cable; a shoddy cable can also cause connectivity issues. If you have Bluetooth on your PC, try connecting the controller wirelessly and see if that works.
Method 2: Using DS4Windows
DS4Windows is an open-source tool that is used to make the DS4 controller work on a PC. Many games like Forza Horizon 4 don’t detect the PS4 controller in the game. In these cases, DS4Windows is often used to make it work. Just follow these steps to play Assetto Corsa with a PS4 controller using DS4 Windows.
- Download DS4Windows from their website. Extract the zip file and open the DS4Windows application.
- When you first open the app, it will ask you to download some drivers. After doing that, restart your PC.
- Once restarted, open the app again and connect your PS4 controller.
- The app will detect your controller. After that, click on the start button at the bottom right of the screen.
- Launch Assetto Corsa, and the controller should start working.
If you click on the controller in the DS4 Windows app, you can configure a lot of settings. Things like Deadzones and button mappings. You can leave this at the default, and the controller will work. This menu is more for configuring your controller to your personal preference.
Method 3: Using Steam
Steam can also read your PS4 controller, and it makes it work with any game. It’s a feature built into the Steam launcher; all you need to do is configure it. If you own the game on Steam, just follow these steps:
- Launch Steam
- Right-click on Assetto Corsa from your Library.
- Click on Properties, then in the new Window click on Controller on the left.
- Look for “Override for Assetto Corsa” and a drop-down bar next to it. Click on the drop-down and select “Use Steam Input”.
- Close the tab and launch the game. The controller will now work.
Steam Input basically translates your controller input into in-game commands. This allows for any controller to work with any game, regardless of whether there is controller support or not.
Now, if you are like me and don’t have the game on Steam, you have to add the game and then follow the above steps. Here is how you add a game on Steam.
- Go to your Library on Steam.
- Click on Add Game at the bottom left of the Steam Window, then select Add a non-steam game.
- Just search for Assetto Corsa and add it. If it doesn’t show up click on Browse and manually find the game’s main file, and add that.
- After that, just repeat the above steps, and the PS4 controller will start working with Assetto Corsa.
This is how I run my PS4 controller with Assetto Corsa and other Steam games. It doesn’t require any download, which is a plus.
The PS4 controller is known to have compatibility issues with many PC games, including Assetto Corsa. This guide covers the three easiest ways to get your PS4 controller working with the game.
