If you’re playing Hades on PC with a PlayStation controller, you may run into one annoying problem: the game works with your controller, but the on-screen button prompts still show Xbox-style A, B, X and Y buttons instead of the familiar PlayStation Cross, Circle, Square and Triangle icons.
That can be especially confusing if you’re used to playing on PlayStation.
The good news is that Hades can work with a DualSense or DualShock controller on PC, and with the right Steam configuration you can get a much more PlayStation-like experience.
In this guide, I’ll walk through the setup I use and also explain a few things you should know if you’re playing Hades through a remote gaming setup such as Apollo, Sunshine or Moonlight.
Watch the Full Tutorial
If you’d rather see the process instead of reading through each step, here’s my full video showing the setup in action:
https://youtu.be/1OaOQahuBHs
The written guide below covers the important settings and gives you a quick reference if you’re troubleshooting your own setup.
Why Does Hades Show Xbox Buttons With a PlayStation Controller?
This isn’t necessarily a problem with your controller.
Windows PC games have traditionally relied heavily on XInput, the controller system commonly associated with Xbox controllers. Because of that, many games display Xbox-style button prompts even when another controller is being used.
Steam Input can also translate controller inputs so that games see your controller differently from the physical device you’re actually holding.
That translation is great for controller compatibility, but it can sometimes result in:
Physical controller: PlayStation DualSense What the game detects: Xbox-compatible controller Button prompts displayed: A / B / X / Y
The goal is to allow Hades to recognize the controller in a way that gives you the button prompts you actually want.
Step 1: Connect Your PlayStation Controller
Start by connecting your DualSense or DualShock controller to your PC.
Depending on your setup, you may be using:
USB
Bluetooth
A remote gaming client
Steam Input
Another controller translation layer
Before changing anything in Hades, make sure Steam can actually see your controller.
Open Steam and verify that your controller is detected.
If you’re troubleshooting, I recommend testing the controller locally first before adding remote gaming into the equation. That makes it much easier to figure out whether the issue is coming from Hades, Steam or your streaming software.
Step 2: Check the Steam Input Setting for Hades
This is one of the most important settings.
From your Steam library:
Find Hades.
Right-click the game.
Select Properties.
Open the Controller section.
Check the Steam Input override for the game.
Steam Input can be extremely useful, particularly when a game doesn’t properly support a controller on its own.
However, if Steam Input is translating your PlayStation controller into an Xbox-style controller, Hades may display Xbox button prompts.
Try testing Hades with Steam Input disabled for the game and see how the controller is detected.
The exact behavior can depend on the controller, connection method and other software being used, so consider this a setting worth testing rather than assuming that one configuration will work for every PC.
Step 3: Launch Hades and Check the Button Prompts
Once you’ve changed the controller configuration, completely close and relaunch Hades.
Don’t just switch back to the game if it was already running.
Controller detection often happens when a game starts, so restarting it gives Hades an opportunity to detect the controller again using the new Steam configuration.
Once you’re inside the game, move through the menus and check the button prompts.
You’re looking for PlayStation-style prompts such as:
Cross instead of A Circle instead of B Square instead of X Triangle instead of Y
If those appear, you’re good to go.
DualSense vs. DualShock 4 on PC
Both the PlayStation 5 DualSense and PlayStation 4 DualShock 4 can be used for PC gaming, but individual games can detect them differently.
Steam helps significantly with compatibility, but there’s an important distinction:
Getting the controller to work and getting the game to identify it as a PlayStation controller aren’t always the same thing.
Steam Input might make an unsupported controller work perfectly while simultaneously causing the game to see an Xbox-style controller.
That’s why changing the Steam Input configuration can make a difference to the button glyphs.
What If You Are Using Apollo, Sunshine or Moonlight?
This is where things get more interesting.
I do quite a bit of remote PC gaming, and your controller isn’t always connected directly to the gaming PC.
A setup might look something like this:
PlayStation Controller → Phone/Remote Device → Moonlight → Apollo or Sunshine → Gaming PC → Hades
There are several layers between the physical controller and the game.
Each layer potentially changes how that controller is reported.
For example, you may physically be holding a DualSense controller while the host PC ultimately receives something that looks like an Xbox controller.
If that’s happening, changing Hades alone may not solve the problem.
Test the Controller Locally First
A useful troubleshooting process is:
Connect the PlayStation controller directly to the gaming PC.
Launch Hades.
Confirm that PlayStation prompts work locally.
Close the game.
Reconnect through your remote gaming setup.
Launch Hades again.
Compare the controller prompts.
If PlayStation buttons appear locally but Xbox buttons appear remotely, you’ve isolated the problem.
Hades isn’t the issue.
The controller is being translated somewhere in your remote gaming chain.
Apollo vs. Sunshine for Remote Gaming
If you’ve watched some of my other videos, you’ll know that I’ve been experimenting extensively with Sunshine, Moonlight and Apollo for remote PC gaming.
Apollo is particularly interesting because it builds upon this type of game-streaming workflow while adding features that can make managing different client devices much easier.
For example, I use remote gaming across devices with different screen sizes and aspect ratios, so being able to create a setup that adapts better to the device I’m playing on is very useful.
Controller handling is another thing to keep in mind.
When troubleshooting Hades, don’t only look at the graphics or streaming settings. Pay attention to what type of controller the host machine thinks you’re using.
That can directly affect the button prompts you see in-game.
Vulkan or DirectX for Hades?
You may also notice different launch options when starting Hades on PC.
Depending on your hardware and configuration, you may have options involving DirectX or Vulkan.
There’s no universal answer saying that one will always perform better on every PC.
If Hades is already running smoothly, there isn’t necessarily a reason to change your rendering API just because you’re troubleshooting controller prompts. The graphics API and controller detection are separate issues.
However, if you’re experimenting with remote gaming and encounter:
Stuttering
Frame pacing problems
Capture issues
Unexpected performance drops
it’s worth testing both available rendering options on your particular system.
Change one thing at a time so you know which setting actually made a difference.
Troubleshooting: Still Seeing Xbox Buttons?
If you’re still seeing Xbox prompts, go through these checks.
Restart Hades
After changing Steam Input or your controller connection, completely restart the game.
Restart Steam
If Steam isn’t detecting the controller correctly, close and reopen Steam.
Try USB Instead of Bluetooth
Connect the controller directly over USB as a troubleshooting step.
Even if you eventually want to play wirelessly, a direct connection helps eliminate Bluetooth as a variable.
Disable Additional Controller Software
If you’re running another controller translation utility, it may be creating another virtual controller.
Temporarily remove that additional layer and test again.
Check Your Remote Gaming Client
If you’re using Apollo, Sunshine, Moonlight or another streaming solution, determine what controller the host PC is actually receiving.
Your physical controller and the virtual controller presented to Windows may not be the same device type.
Test Locally
This is probably the most valuable troubleshooting step.
If everything works correctly when you’re sitting at the PC, but it changes when you connect remotely, focus your troubleshooting on the remote gaming configuration rather than Hades.
Do You Need a Mod to Get PlayStation Buttons in Hades?
Before installing mods or replacing game files, I recommend testing the native controller and Steam configuration first.
Adding a mod introduces another variable into the setup, and for something as simple as button prompts, it’s better to determine whether the game can already give you the experience you want.
Then look at more complicated solutions only if they’re actually necessary.
Final Thoughts
Playing Hades with a DualSense or DualShock controller on PC feels great, but seeing Xbox prompts while holding a PlayStation controller can be surprisingly distracting.
The important thing to understand is that the controller you’re physically using isn’t necessarily the controller Hades thinks you’re using.
Steam Input, remote streaming software and virtual controllers can all affect that detection.
Start by getting the controller working correctly directly on the PC, then introduce Steam Input and any remote gaming tools one at a time.
That approach makes troubleshooting much easier.
If you’re also building a remote gaming setup using Moonlight, Sunshine or Apollo, check out my other videos where I go deeper into those tools and show how I use them across different devices.
And if this guide helped, you can watch the complete Hades controller setup tutorial here:
