Need For Speed Unbound has a variety of revamped accessibility options and controller settings for you to tweak, but there are certain times when the controller will not work properly on the PC version. To better describe it, the game will randomly fail to detect the controller as you are playing or attending to other tasks while the game is minimized. It may also disrupt gameplay by switching to a different control scheme entirely, but thankfully, there are quite a few ways to counteract the problem in order to make it work again.
Key Highlights:
- The players of NFS Unbound are running into an issue with the PC version of the game.
- The problem is correlated to the controller, such as the Dualsense not working as intended.
- Players can fix this issue through methods such as using Steam‘s Controller Configuration and other workarounds.
- One of the well-known methods includes forcing the Steam Input configuration on the game settings tab in the Steam launcher.
How To Fix The Controller Not Working In Need For Speed Unbound

Normally, you will either be using the Bluetooth card on your PC to connect the controller or the traditional way of plugging it in via a USB cable. Furthermore, you will most likely be playing the game either by purchasing it through the EA launcher or via Steam.
However, there are numerous ongoing reports and complaints issued by players that the controller may suddenly stop working without any logical reason or explanation by the game itself.
Moreover, there are also complaints by players on community threads about how the control scheme may switch up entirely, making it an even bigger headache than one could imagine. There are multiple workarounds suggested by other players of NFS Unbound as well methods that may resolve the problem entirely, so follow along as we entail the exact solutions on how you can get the controller to work in the game.
Launch The Game & Steam As An Administrator
One of the first things you can try doing right off the bat to solve the problem of the controller getting disconnected is trying to launch both the game and the respective launcher under the Administrator settings. This essentially allows the application to take full control of the restricted parts of your operating system, which may sound risky at first, but with a game such as NFS Unbound, it shouldn’t be anything too worrying.

In order to run the game under the Administrator settings, simply head to the main directory of the game, which can be found in the installation location of the game itself. Now simply right-click on it and open up the properties sub-menu, where you need to head to the Compatibility section.
Simply scroll down here and tick the box where it reads “Run This Program as an Administrator,” and then click on Apply to save the changes. Do it for both Steam and The NFS Unbound executable files, and then head back into the game to verify if it helped resolve the issue for you.
Re-Enable Controller Configuration On Steam
The following method is for players of the game who are playing it on Steam. There are often times when the launcher will accidentally misconfigure the controller settings whenever you play different kinds of games. So in order to alleviate yourself of that slight issue, you can reconfigure the Steam Controller settings, with the most important thing to note here being to properly verify and apply settings for the controller you’re currently using.

- Open up the main settings page of the launcher from the top-left corner by clicking on Steam and then clicking on the Settings option.
- You will now be displayed with a new pop-up menu where you can head into the Controller section.
- Here select the General Controller Settings option, as shown in the image above, to open up the Steam controller configuration menu.

- Now with the General settings, you can tweak whichever controller preference you such as being able to use any third-party one by using the Generic Gamepad option and more.
- However, since you will most likely be using either the Playstation 4 or 5 Controller or even the Xbox one, go ahead and checkmark any of the boxes corresponding to the controller name.
- You can also checkmark the box which says “Guide Button Focuses Steam” option, which has helped us in our experience with using the PS5 and PS4 controller on unsupported games.
- The settings should be automatically applied to the game but just to be safe, make sure you restart NFS Unbound once you reconfigure the controller settings.
Use Steam’s Forced On/Off Controller Application Options

The other known method that users have discussed on the Steam Community Discussions of NFS Unbound pertains to forcing the Steam Input Game setting option. It will allow the controller Configurator to force the setting you have selected into the game; follow the steps below to enable or disable it in order t verify if it helps resolve the issue or not.
- Firstly, open up the Steam Launcher in Big Picture Mode, which can be done by clicking the option next to your profile on the top right of the screen whilst using the launcher.
- Now simply browse games and locate NFS Unbound.
- Click on the Manage Game option on the sidebar.
- Here, click and view the Controller Options.
- Now just enable the Steam Input Per-Game Settings to Forced On and select OK to save the settings.
- Restart the Steam launcher just in case, and then head Into Need for Speed Unbound to check if it fixed the controller from not working on your PC.
Add The EA Launcher & NFS Unbound Into Steam
According to a Reddit User by the name of u/BR3NDANP on an NFS Subreddit Post, there was an ongoing discussion about the controller not working on the EA launcher version of the game.
The user pointed out a helpful method that helped him launch the game and use the controller in one piece and that solution revolved around adding the entire EA launcher to the Steam Library so that you can launch the game via the Steam launcher in order to use it’s controller settings on there.

- Firstly, we are going to add the EA launcher here, which can be simply done by opening up the Steam platform, and on the bottom bar, you should be able to spot the Add Game option.
- Select Add Non-Steam game and from the menu, click on browse and navigate to the executable file of the Electronic Arts Launcher.
- The default location of the EA Desktop.Exe should be listed as C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\EA Desktop\EA Desktop.
- Now launch the EA platform through here and the game, too, and verify if this helped you fix the issue of the controller not working.
- An alternative method is also simply adding the NFS Unbound executable file here, so be sure to try both of these solutions to see which one helps you out the most.
The Wrap-Up
If you’ve already tried the obvious solutions, such as restarting the game and PC or even reconnecting your controller, chances are one of the workarounds we have listed here will hopefully resolve the issues. Need for Speed Unbound is making an impact as of late as EA finally seems to be putting it in the right direction with its return to the roots of underground street racing.
When it comes to the gameplay itself, there is no end to the limitless selection of Cars In NFS Unbound, as each one has different and varied stats to make you hunt down and use them for unique events or missions. The brand-new art direction brought in these Driving Effects, but they can prove to be bothersome for some players, so thankfully, there is a way to turn them off at your leisure.
However, if you’re still on the fence about investing in the game, then following our hand-picked Tips and Tricks for NFS Unbound might help you out in the beginning hours, which can prove to be challenging. That aside, this wraps up our guide on how to resolve the controller not working in NFS Unbound.
If you have any other questions related to the guide or an unsolvable problem that you might be facing, then be sure to let us know all about it in the comments section below so we can help you out in the best possible way. As always, eXputer wishes you luck!
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