How to Play New World with a Controller

New World may have more than its fair share of issues but there is no denying the game’s potential to be addictive. Even after you hit the MMO’s level cap, there is so much to do every day you log in and a harmony between tasks that yields steady progress. A feeling of satisfaction accompanies each bump in equipment Expertise and each level gained in a Trade Skill.

Not every task that contributes to said progress qualifies as fun, however. Farming for resources, in particular, tends to feel slow and arduous. Whether you’re farming Motes for the coveted Voidbent set or Lumber to level up Furnishing, you’re going to need the kind of focus and dedication most of us would rather reserve for our jobs. The whole ordeal might be made a tad easier if you could sit back and relax with a controller in hand. New World doesn’t officially offer controller support as yet, though, and with Amazon Games Studios busy putting out fires, it may be a while till they consider addressing the same.

Fortunately, you needn’t wait. With a little effort, and roughly two minutes of your time, you can get your Xbox controller or other gamepad running with the game using one of the many community-made controller presets on offer through Steam.

How to Set Up Your Controller in New World

1. Launch New World.

2. Bring up the Steam Overlay by hitting Shift + Tab on your keyboard. This is the default key combination. You can check yours under Settings > In-Game.

3. From the top-right corner of the Steam Overlay, select Controller Configuration.

4. In the screen that follows, click the Browse Configs button below and switch to the Community tab from the left to look through community-generated controller configurations available for the game. The list is arranged by community votes, meaning the configuration that appears on top has the highest number of recommendations.

5. Select a configuration from the list to look through its control scheme.

6. If you’re happy with it, click the Apply Configuration button at the bottom followed by Done to test it out in-game.

That’s all there is to it! If the custom configuration you chose doesn’t feel right, you can always go back and select another. There are quite a few available for the game, with some that are fairly viable for combat as well. I myself only use the controller when I set out on a long farming route, only needing to fight occasionally to clear out the area around certain resource nodes.

Sameed Khan

I write, game, design at times, and revel in sarcasm. You can find me on Twitter.