New Steam Deck Client Update Adds New Gyro Modes, Prompts for Xbox Controller Firmware Updates, And More

If you haven't yet, follow us on X (Twitter), Mastodon, or Bluesky to know when we post new articles, and join our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to check out our content and interact with our awesome community. Thank you for supporting us!

The Steam Deck Client got a new stable update, bringing new features and fixes to everyone. Connecting an Xbox controller via Bluetooth will now prompt you to update the firmware if necessary, group chat messages can now be reported directly in the chat window, and new Gyro modes have now been promoted over the default ones. There were also fixes for in-game purchase failures, news not showing up in the "What's New" tab, and non-Steam browser windows being created when steamwebhelper is restarted. Selecting Sleep in the Power menu will now also correctly prompt us to enter Display-off Downloads when appropriate.

You can download and install the new update through the System settings on your Steam Deck.

Steam Deck Client 12/19/25 Update Changelog:

General

• Selecting Sleep in the Power menu will now prompt the user to enter Display-off downloads when appropriate.
• Fixed intermittent in-game purchase failures for some games.
• Fixed news items not updating in the "What's New" tab on the Home screen.
• Fixed non-Steam browser windows erroneously being created sometimes when steamwebhelper is restarted.
• On the Bluetooth settings screen, we will now detect and notify the player when trying to pair/connect an Xbox controller with older firmware versions that cannot properly connect to Steam Deck. To fix these issues you must connect the controller to a Windows PC and update the firmware via the Xbox Accessories App.

Accessibility

• Moved the Screen Reader's "Stop Talking" button to X so that external gamepads can still open the Quick Access Menu with Guide button + their equivalent of A button.

Friends & Chat

• Suspicious or harassing group chat messages can be reported directly in the chat window by selecting the message and pressing 'Options'. You can optionally block and/or unfriend the other user while submitting the report.

Remote Play

• Fixed being unable to move the mouse to another monitor when using touch controls on the Steam Link app.

Steam Input

• Promoted the newer gyro modes from beta to the default gyro modes loaded. Older configuration that are using the older modes will still see the option and you can also enable Steam Input dev mode under Settings->Developer to keep them visible all the time.
• Adjusted Dualsense "Create" and "Options" glyphs for better recall.
• In all Gyro Modes, when selecting multiple gyro activation buttons, you can also choose whether "Any" or "All" buttons are required to Enable/Suppress/Toggle the gyro.
• Gyro Haptic On/Off effect is now separated from Gyro Haptic Rotation Effect.
• Added an "Invert Input" toggle in "Regular Press" activator settings. When enabled, this causes button presses to generate releases, and vice versa.
• Gyro to Joystick Deflection Mode: Added "Use Relative Roll" & "Use Relative Pitch" toggles. When enabled, this makes the output Joystick deflection relative to the controller's pose since the Gyro's activation. i.e. turning on the gyro will always center the stick output. When disabled, the deflection angle is absolute vs. the controller's gravity sensor. Previously this was only possible for "Pitch" (old name: "World Auto Tilt"), but it's now available for Roll as well.
• Gyro to Joystick Deflection: "Relative Roll" and "Relative Pitch" toggles are only available if a Gyro Activation Button is selected, because the angles are relative to the pose of the controller each time the Gyro is activated.
• Fixed Dualsense Edge, Xbox Elite, Nintendo JoyCons in paired mode not finding the correct config to edit.
• Fixed Gyro to Joystick Deflection: Lock Extents not working as intended.
• Fixed Gyro to Joystick Deflection: Some combinations of "Relative Roll" and "Relative Pitch" toggles resulted in zero joystick output.

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got you covered!