Genshin Impact is making waves, and millions of players have already downloaded the free-to-play action RPG. It’s available on a multitude of platforms, including PC. However, unlike most new games, Genshin Impact‘s controller support on PC is strangely implemented. Here’s how to enable gamepad support on PC and whether or not you can remap the controls.
Does Genshin Impact have controller support on PC?
When you start the game on PC, you might be alarmed when your controller doesn’t work at the main menu. The majority of new games support XInput, which automatically recognizes compatible controllers. Genshin Impact, on the other hand, either has botched its implementation of the XInput API or uses an alternative method of collecting controller input.
To get past the initial screen in Genshin Impact, you must use a keyboard and mouse. After the beginning cutscene has played out and gameplay has started, you can access the options menu and choose between keyboard/mouse and controller input in the Controls menu.
Does Genshin Impact support controller remapping on PC?
Unfortunately, Genshin Impact doesn’t support controller remapping at all on PC. You’re stuck with one layout, which is incredibly irritating as it’s non-standard.
If you’re used to A as confirm and B as cancel on your Xbox One controller (or X as confirm and O as cancel if you’re using a DualShock 4), you’re out of luck with Genshin Impact. Unfortunately, the game uses the Japanese standard, which, while familiar to Switch owners, will be jarring for many. It’s not hard to get used to, but it is a shame that there’s no option to adjust it.
For now, if you’re set on using a controller, you’ll have to deal with the atypical layout. Perhaps remapping will come to the PC version of Genshin Impact in the future, but there are no guarantees there.