YES! Sony’s PS5 DualSense Controller Gets Official Linux Support

Here’s some cool Linux gaming news you may have missed over the holiday: Sony has written and published an official Linux driver for its new PlayStation 5 DualSense controller.

This update represents 1400 additional lines of code that have been added to the existing “hid-playstation” kernel-level driver. In a nutshell, this means that in Linux distributions with newer kernels, the PS5 controller will “just work” right out of the box.

The great news is that the controller’s crucial features are all supported: motion sensors, touchpad, battery, lightbar and rumble. Better still is that it will work via both USB and Bluetooth.

There’s only one downside.

“Not yet supported are new unique features introduced by the DualSense
such as Adaptive Triggers and the VCM based Haptics” says Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Roderick Colenbrander. “These features require a large amount of data and complex data structures. It is not clear how to expose these.”

While I don’t own a PS5 yet, now I’m considering ordering a standalone DualSense controller for my PC gaming needs for two simple reasons: Sony’s show of support on Linux, and USB-C!

Let us know if you try it out.