Valve has changed what a Steam Frame controller does inside VR games that never supported VR controllers. In SteamVR beta 2.18.3, posted October 10 at 00:50 UTC, Valve writes under a Steam Frame heading: “By default, Steam Frame controllers will now use GAMEPAD input in VR games that don’t support VR inputs.” The change is REAL, but it is not on the default channel, and getting it takes THREE separate opt-ins.
What Changed
Some OLDER PC VR titles shipped with gamepad support and NOTHING else. Until now, a Frame owner opening one of those games held TWO controllers that did nothing useful. The new default makes the Frame controllers present themselves as a gamepad in those titles, with NO setup step from the owner.
Valve says the preferred mode can be changed PER GAME, either in the game’s Steam Input settings or in VR Controller settings on the Now Playing page. Steam Input is the SAME layer that already maps controllers for the rest of the Steam library.
The Catch: Three Betas
Valve states the condition PLAINLY: “Requires Steam Beta and SteamVR Beta.” The Steam client beta note, published at 00:42 UTC on October 10 and titled “October 9th” by Valve’s Pacific clock, is more exact: “both Frame and the PC must be on the beta channel for Steam and SteamVR.” That means the HEADSET on the Frame beta channel, the Steam client beta on the PC, and the SteamVR beta on the PC. Miss any one and the feature does NOT appear.
That fits a PATTERN. SteamVR’s stable branch is still on 2.17, and every 2.18 release so far has shipped as a beta. Steam Frame’s own SteamOS 0.4 reached all users this week, but its Error 17 streaming fix ALSO still depends on a PC-side SteamVR beta.
What Valve Did Not Say
Valve has NOT published a list of the games the new default applies to, and it has not given a date for SteamVR 2.18 reaching stable. Instead, it is asking owners to report titles the change BREAKS. Owners who rely on STABLE builds should expect to WAIT.
Bottom Line
This is a SENSIBLE fix for a REAL gap in Steam’s older VR catalog, and the per-game override is the right escape hatch. But for now it is a BETA feature stacked on two other betas, and Valve has not said when it will reach EVERY Frame owner.