Steam now officially supports Switch’s retro controllers

Steam now has official support for the classic controllers available to Nintendo Switch Online members.

The official NES, SNES, Nintendo 64 and Mega Drive / Genesis controllers, which remain on sale only to Switch Online subscribers, can now be used to play games on Steam.

The patch notes for the July 27 build of the Steam Client simply say: “Added support for Nintendo Online classic controllers.”

However, a Valve spokesperson confirmed to The Verge that this specifically referred to the NES, SNES, N64 and Mega Drive controllers.

Naturally, these controllers have fewer buttons than a more conventional Steam-supported controller (such as an Xbox or PlayStation controller), but they can at least be used for games that only use a limited number of buttons, including smaller indie titles and retro compilations.

Players can also use Steam’s settings to reconfigure a controller’s buttons, making it easier for them to play some games that weren’t designed with that controller in mind.

The Switch Online NES controller was made available in 2018, with SNES controllers following in 2019, and N64 and Mega Drive controllers arriving in 2021.

The controllers are mainly designed to play the libraries of NES and SNES games available through Switch Online, as well as the N64 and Mega Drive libraries available via the service’s Expansion Pack.

Further reading

Switch Online’s latest Mega Drive/Genesis update adds Mega Man: The Wily Wars

Plus Comix Zone, Target Earth and Zero Wing

At the time of writing, there are currently 93 NES games, 72 SNES games, 30 Mega Drive games and 19 Nintendo 64 games available on Switch Online, with more being added over time.

Nintendo 64 games in particular appear to be added on a monthly basis, with the latest addition being Pokémon Puzzle League.