One of the great joys of our hobby [[link]] is that virtually any controller is a PC gaming controller. That means we don't have to succumb to the lunacy of modern first-party controller pricing, but there's a reason the official Xbox pad is still PC Gamer's overall .
The Xbox pad is a workhorse—sturdy, comfortable, and packing 25 years of optimizations. And for the moment, it's even a bargain: the 2025 revision of the official on Amazon, the lowest price we've ever seen for it.
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I bought an Xbox controller exclusively for PC gaming years ago, and it hasn't left my desk since. The most [[link]] convenient part of an Xbox controller isn't the controller itself, but its universal support across virtually all games and platforms. While it's still common to run into games that don't support PlayStation button glyphs, you never have to worry about it with Xbox.
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1. Best overall:
2. Best budget:
3. Best premium:
4. Best customizable:
5. Best haptics:
6. Best Hall effect:
My only gripe with ol' reliable is that there are arguably better controller options for PC gaming outside of the first-party bubble. Just last week, with its build quality and comfort. Competitors like 8BitDo and GameSir aren't just beating Sony and Microsoft on price, but major features like extra grip buttons (the big boys upsell you to a "pro" controller for those) and Hall effect sticks that are immune to drift.
But even still, the stability of an Xbox controller is undeniable. It works for everything, is supported by everything, and backs up its reputation with quality. And with this kind of discount, it's a purchase I can make without instant wallet guilt.