How many controllers does Steam Link support?

[SergeS2K]

First I apologize if this has been answered somewhere, I looked up the FAQ and tried searching but I wasn't able to find a solid answer.

Steam is getting more 4+ local games, some supporting up to 8 players, but Steam link only has 3 USB ports. I have read that USB hubs work which is great, as well as wireless controllers, but how many can it handle? Basically I'd love to know if you can connect up to 8 controllers, whether it's 8 wired controllers using a USB hub, or even a mix of wired controllers as well as wireless.

[Bran3w]

This is a good question. I would really like to know the answer to this. I was also unaware you could use wireless controllers?

[Kelzin]

I have 3 wii u pro controllers connected wirelessly when me and my kids play castle crashers :)

[SergeS2K]

Originally posted by P3Ri ChoReSiS:

This is a good question. I would really like to know the answer to this. I was also unaware you could use wireless controllers?

Yes certain ones work without issue, others need an adapter (like the 360 wireless controllers I believe, correct me if I'm wrong someone).

Originally posted by FixXxeR!:

I have 3 wii u pro controllers connected wirelessly when me and my kids play castle crashers :)

Yes, this is awesome, but there's a couple 5+ player games on Steam now and I'd love to have some game parties and be able to play some 8 player games on my big screen using the Steam Link :D

[Bran3w]

Do you need a wireless dongle for this? Is there one for each type of controller? I have seen the one for the 360 controllers. Doesn't the steam link work wireless with the steam controller out of the box?

[SergeS2K]

I'm not the best to answer as I don't have one myself yet, but the Stream Controller should work without the need for an adapter, and I'm pretty sure PS4 controllers work without an adapter as well. But I believe 360 controllers need the wireless adapter dongle.

[Kelzin]

My 3 wii u pro controllers are connected without dongle, just pair'ed via the bluetooth menu.

[SergeS2K]

Bump to the 1st page for the morning

[mcd1992]

The Link has a built in dongle that will support 4 steam controllers. Then you have 3 extra USB ports and Bluetooth. Most games won't support more than 4 controllers though. So 3 wired and one wireless should be good enough. Or any other permutation of 1-3 wired and N wireless controllers.

[SergeS2K]

Originally posted by mcd1992:

The Link has a built in dongle that will support 4 steam controllers. Then you have 3 extra USB ports and Bluetooth. Most games won't support more than 4 controllers though. So 3 wired and one wireless should be good enough. Or any other permutation of 1-3 wired and N wireless controllers.

Some games do though, for example Knight Squad supports 8 players local, confirmed by the Dev in the forums as they have played 8 players on it. That's my main question here, if the Steam Link itself can actually support more than 4 controllers connected to it, whether it's 8 wired controllers (Using a USB hub), 8 wireless controllers, or a mix of the two.

Unfortuantely there doesn't seem to be anything confirmed by anyone yet and I'm hoping to find someone that has actually tried this before I purchase a Link myself.

[Sheap]

I have a question and a observation. I have a steam link, a steam controller and 5 Xbox controllers connected to a powered external hub. I have three 8 player games: butsbal, clusterpuck and gangbeasts.
I have noted that all 6 controllers work fine when in the steam interface, all can control the screen and select games. The games, however, do not recognise the 6 controllers. They only recognises 4 through the steam link.

I have tested the two simpler games (butsbal, clusterpuck) on both my pc and on my steam link.
Firstly the steam link seems to assigns the controllers strangely as the indicator (center button) lights up two with the same configuration (top left light or right) while the pc just leaves the 5th unlit.
The games only recognise four controllers. Every now and again it gets a fifth one, but the functionality is intermittent. The PC works just fine, all 6 players can join the game without any trouble at all.

This proves that the controllers and hub are not the issue, the only variable which changes is the platform used.

I am assuming that this can be updated on the steam link at some point as it seems like it should be simple enough to allow the games full access to all controllers like the steam link does outside games, the question is WHEN?????

[SergeS2K]

^Very good information, thanks for the post. So yeah, as you said it does seem link Steam Link should have the capability of supporting more than 4 controllers, they just need to update it. I hope they look into it, although I'm worried that since 5+ player games are not that common, it won't be a priority and be left in the dust for a while :/

I'll try to hold out some hope but I may end up just building another PC for my needs.

[SergeS2K]

Does Valve ever lurk around the forum and reply to any threads? I'd love to get their attention on this and see if this is something they know about/working on.

[NaU.Uberjannie]

I can only get four controllers to work with Steam Link. Some games, only two controllers work. I have tried with four Xbox One controllers as well as 8 Xbox one controllers. In addition, I have tried with 4 XbOne controllers and 4 PS4 controllers and 4 XbOne controllers and 4 XB360 controllers. Only four ever registers. But if I connect them to steam not using Steam Link, all 8 controllers worked, but only managed to get 4 working on Steam Link at any given time.

Time of testing - 31 March 2017.

[WACK SMELLINGTON]

will steamlink handle 4 ps4 controllers via bluetooth without any wiring?

[NaU.Uberjannie]

Originally posted by josephpwellman:

will steamlink handle 4 ps4 controllers via bluetooth without any wiring?

Worked fine for me.