Obsidian Entertainment has opened public Steam beta branches that let you play Pillars of Eternity and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire with a controller on PC from start to finish. In a Steam announcement, the studio said the PC Controller Support Public Test is live for both games, covering character creation through the end credits (and naval combat in Deadfire) in Real-Time with Pause and Turn-Based Mode. PC Gamer reports the public test runs through November 25.
This is a public test, not a stable release. Obsidian told players to expect bugs while it gathers feedback for a full release. No ship date for the finished controller update has been announced.
What the beta adds
Deadfire’s scheme builds on the console editions’ controller layout. Radial menus open abilities, spells, and party commands, with button prompts across the interface. You can pick up a mouse and keyboard at any time and the UI follows the active input. Xbox and PlayStation controllers are supported on Windows, macOS, and Linux, alongside Steam Deck and Steam Big Picture, including the on-screen keyboard for names and notes.
Pillars of Eternity ships the work in patch 1.3.10.0. Deadfire’s companion build is patch 5.1.0.0, which also reworks Turn-Based Mode to match improvements Obsidian made for the first game: turns track each character’s speed, combat is more lethal, and actions such as swapping weapons or drinking potions no longer spend your main action. Players can turn Turn-Based Mode on or off mid-playthrough while out of combat via options, a new HUD button, or the T key. Both patches also list interface, combat, quest, and audio fixes.
How to opt in on Steam
In your Steam Library, right-click either Pillars title, open Properties, open the Betas tab, and select public_beta. Close the window and launch the game so the download starts; restart Steam if the update does not appear. PC Gamer notes the November 4 beta labels on each title’s branch selector.
Steam Deck players are not locked out, but Obsidian says they need to apply a controller layout first: open the gamepad icon on the library page, choose Templates, pick Gamepad with Joystick Trackpad (or Gamepad), apply the layout, then launch. That is a setup step for the test build, not a Steam Deck Verified claim.
Obsidian is gathering reports through its support site and Discord while the test window stays open. As we covered when Bethesda outlined Obsidian’s creative lane under the publishing group, the studio keeps iterating on its catalog. Pillars of Eternity and Deadfire remain available on Steam for PC, Mac, and Linux.
