Can you play Once Human with a controller?

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You can't use a controller to play Once Human yet, but support is coming

Player stands in front of their truck house.
(Image credit: Starry Studio)

Once Human controller support is lacking at the moment, but Starry Studio is working on implementing support. The eldritch sci-fi survival game is mouse-and-keyboard only, so you can't use an Xbox controller or PS5 DualSense until proper controller support arrives, although that could be reasonably soon, as explained below. Here's what you need to know about the future of controller support for Once Human.

Does Once Human have controller support?

Once Human controller setting menu

(Image credit: Starry Studio)

No. Right now, Once Human does not support any other input devices aside from mouse and keyboard, so you can't use your Xbox, PS4, or PS5 controllers while playing the game on PC. I tried connecting an Xbox controller to my PC and played Once Human and can confirm it does absolutely nothing, unfortunately.

According to developer Starry Studio, the lack of controller support is due to "ongoing technical adjustments", though this feature is expected to be finished "by August". Confusingly, you can also find settings for 'Controller Sensitivity' and 'Controller Input Settings' in the game's menus, though both are marked as being 'in development'.

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Additionally, you can't play the game on Seam Deck right now either, in case you were looking for any way to avoid using a mouse and keyboard. That also means you won't be able to take the game on the go with Once Human cross platform until it launches on mobile devices via iOS and Android at some point (the expected release date on the App Store is September 26, 2024, though this may not be accurate). Starry Studio has explicitly mentioned that it is working on controller support only, so Steam Deck support won't arrive any time soon, if at all.

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Will Sawyer
Will Sawyer
Guides Editor, GamesRadar+

Will Sawyer is a Guides Editor at GamesRadar+ with over five years of experience in writing online guides, news, and features, and has a BA (Hons) in Journalism. Starting as a freelancer, Will contributed to startmenu and Game Rant before joining the GamesRadar+ team in August 2021. Since then, he has written hundreds of guides about a huge range of games, with shooters and action games being his areas of expertise. Outside of writing about games, Will hops between multiplayer shooters with friends, such as Darktide and Helldivers 2, and delves into whatever has been on his backlog for far too long. He also tries to get through his never-ending Warhammer pile of shame of grey Tyranids, Aeldari, and Chaos Space Marines.