Linux Gaming

Yes, all normal controllers should work out of the box on a modern kernel.

That includes official Playstation, Xbox and Switch controllers.

Everyone else covered the main details, I'll just add if you want to use an Xbox series X controller I found the Microsoft wireless dongle works best for wireless usage.

You would need to install the third-party xone kernel module though.

Games from Steam will work with just about any controller, non-steam games can usually be made to work by launching them from within Steam, so add the games to Steam when installing through Heroic or Lutris eg.

One possible issue is that mixing rpm & flatpak runtimes can cause issue's with Steam Input, atleast it did for me on Fedora 38 where Heroic installed as a flatpak couldn't interact with Steam Input where Steam was installed from rpm.

Linux supports more controllers out of the box than Windows in my experience. For example, the original Xbox controllers with an adapter cable to give them a normal USB-A connector work great in Linux but require third party drivers in Windows.

Xbox and Playstation controllers work out of the box for me usually on steam and Heroic. Sometimes games try really hard to not recognize it but can usually made work.

My 8bitdo pro 2 controller works out of the box in lutris. Plug and play.

In fact the only controller that wasnt plug and play was my gamecube controller with the official adapter. I typed in like one command iirc and then it was plug and play lol

Wished windows was like that.