Need for Speed – The Controller Fix Guide

Finally fix a bug that should have never existed in the first place.

Guide to Fix Controller Issues

Introduction

The Need For Speed reboot, despite its flaws, is still one of the fan favorites in the series. But, as PC players may know, the controller support for this game has been broken for years, even after being re-released, and it’s predecessor, Rivals, having controller support that works just fine despite not focusing on PC as much as this game did.

You may have been just like me, getting this game for cheap on a good platform and wanting to replay it with high frames and visuals, but couldn’t get your controller to work, trying some methods that included:

• Disabling Steam Input
• Using a USB connection
• Unbinding all of your inputs
• Turning down your sensitivity to the lowest or the middle
• Unplugging your keyboard
• Using x360ce
• Using DS4Windows
• Using HidGuardian
• Disabling Controlled Folder Access
• And more methods that I probably haven’t listed

I tried most of these methods, but none of them worked for me, besides one.

This one thing that I had to do was so simple, yet so effective. I was able to use my DS4 controller perfectly, with Steam Input, and with my keyboard plugged in. I could even use it wirelessly if I wanted to. And this didn’t just work for me, but also a good friend of mine, who’s been trying to play this game for months with a controller.

What’s the one method that actually worked? I’ll show you.

The Fix

I found this fix on the EA Forums, and unlike everything else, this was actually different.

PainkillerASM, the 17th reply on this thread, tweaked the configuration files of the game so that controllers and keyboards actually worked.

Now, here’s how to apply the fix.

1. Download the fix either from here.

2. Go to Documents\Need For Speed\settings.

3. Replace the file when prompted to do so.

You do have to redo your graphics settings after replacing the file, but for what you’ve been through already, that’s more than a fair trade off.

Conclusion

And that’s that!

Congratulations, you just fixed one of the most annoying bugs in NFS history.

I managed to beat the entire game after doing this simple fix, and you should be able to do the same now. Enjoy this gem of a game.