For years, buying Gloomwood on sale came with an asterisk: no native controller support, no gamepad glyphs, and a Steam Deck experience that technically worked but required players to cobble together their own input layouts. That asterisk is gone.
New Node Software's stealth immersive sim has received full controller support as of this week, and the timing couldn't be better. Gloomwood has simultaneously earned the Steam Deck Verified badge, upgrading from its previous 'Playable' status. For a game that plays like a love letter to the original Thief series, this is the kind of update that fundamentally changes who can enjoy it.
What the update actually adds
The controller implementation here isn't a bare-minimum port. Tutorials have been updated to display proper gamepad glyphs throughout, so you're no longer staring at keyboard prompts while holding a controller. Button rebinding is fully supported, which matters a lot for a first-person Thief-like where the control scheme has genuine complexity: leaning, inventory management, light gem awareness, and sword combat all need to coexist on a gamepad.
The update also adds a new shop in the market plaza, though the controller support is clearly the headliner.
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Gloomwood has been in early access since 2022 and currently holds over 5,500 "overwhelmingly positive" reviews on Steam, making it one of the better-regarded early access titles around.
Why Steam Deck players were doing this the hard way anyway
Here's the thing: Gloomwood's community was already playing it on Deck before today. The Steam forums had a persistent thread asking about controller support, and dedicated players had been sharing custom gamepad layouts to fill the gap. That kind of grassroots workaround says everything about how much goodwill this game has built up, but it was never a real solution for a game with this many keybindings.
Playing a first-person stealth game without proper gamepad glyphs means constantly second-guessing which button does what. For a genre where hesitation gets you killed, that's a meaningful friction point. The community pushed through it anyway, which makes the official support feel overdue in the best possible way.
A strong moment for an already well-regarded early access game
Gloomwood launched in early access back in 2022 and has been updated consistently since. In January, it received a major new map featuring what the developers described as the game's largest, most vertical open area yet. The pace of development has kept the community engaged, and the game's overwhelmingly positive reception reflects that.
For anyone who has been sitting on a wishlist entry waiting for this exact feature, Gloomwood is currently 25% off on Steam. That sale, combined with the controller update, makes this a reasonable moment to finally pull the trigger. You can also check out latest reviews on our site if you want more context on what to play next on your Deck.
The bigger picture for handheld immersive sims
Gloomwood joining the Verified list is a small but meaningful win for the immersive sim genre on handheld hardware. These games tend to have complicated control schemes that don't map cleanly to a gamepad, and developers often deprioritize the work. When a studio takes the time to do it properly, with rebindable controls and updated tutorials rather than just a checkbox, it sets a useful standard.
For anyone who has been holding off specifically because of the input situation, the wait is over. Browse more gaming guides if you're looking to get the most out of your first run through Gloomwood's fog-drenched streets.
