WARDOGS controls acting up: fixing controller, locked inputs and microphone resets

Since launch the Steam forum has been filling up with reports where the game does not crash, but the controls quit: the controller suddenly maps the wrong buttons, mouse and keyboard drop out for split seconds, nothing responds in the helicopter after a map marker, and the microphone has to be reselected after every start. We collected the reports from the “Report a Problem” board, the steps Team17 Support asks for there, and the cases where players confirmed success. Status: 22 September 2026.

One official frame first: the game’s FAQ states explicitly that controller support is limited in the current version. If you play on a gamepad, you are not on finished ground but on an early access building site.

Controller: half the buttons dead, triggers skipping two tabs

On 22 September several players reported the same state: the gamepad is detected, but some buttons do nothing, A confirms no selection, and the shoulder triggers jump two menu tabs at once. Those affected say it still worked the day before. There is no official fix for this yet. What you can test:

• Steam overlay, controller settings: disable Steam Input for WARDOGS as a test, then try again. If a Steam controller configuration is active alongside, it competes with the game’s own bindings.
• Unplug every other input device Windows reports as a gamepad: wheels, flight sticks, stream decks, Azeron keyboards, a second connected controller, a phone with a gamepad driver.
• Verify the game files via Steam. That is the first step support asks for in almost every control case, and it has genuinely helped with other input bugs.
• Reset the bindings in the game and assign them again instead of trusting the defaults.

If none of that changes anything, the fault is not on your side: report the device including how it is connected, in the forum or through support, so the case carries weight.

Keyboard and mouse locked after “Mark Coordinates”

A well documented single case with a clear pattern: in the helicopter, open the map with M, right-click, choose “Mark Coordinates”, close the map. Afterwards WASD, Q and E and the mouse no longer responded in the pilot seat. Only F for the vehicle menu and Escape kept working, and the chat window stayed dead even after respawning.

What helped in that case, or at least limited the damage:

• After respawning as infantry, movement and mouse were normal again. If you are stuck in that state in flight, a controlled exit beats the crash.
• For the dead chat window support recommends verifying the game files via Steam. Restart afterwards and check the chat key in the settings.
• Until this is fixed: call coordinates out in flight rather than marking them, or place the marker when you are not the one flying.

Mouse, keyboard and headset dropping out, mostly on full servers

One reporter describes mouse, keyboard and headset disconnecting for split seconds during a match, preferably as servers fill up; the headset also drops in Discord at the same time. Team17 Support first asks for a DxDiag file in such cases and then names three points:

• Replace Bluetooth devices with wired ones as a test.
• Plug devices straight into the PC, not through a hub, dock or adapter.
• Update firmware, device software and drivers.

From our side, because the dropouts look like power management and USB issues: in Device Manager, clear “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” for the USB root hubs and the mouse, disable USB selective suspend in the power options, and close peripheral software such as Razer Synapse, iCUE or Logitech G Hub as a test. That the dropout happens exactly under full server load points more to system load than to a pure cable problem.

Microphone has to be reselected after every launch

This is the case with the cleanest confirmation. Several players had to switch the input device, apply, and switch back after every start before the microphone worked. The route named by support ended the problem for two reporters:

• Press Windows key and R, type mmsys.cpl, Enter.
• Recording tab, right-click your microphone, “Set as Default Device”.
• Right-click the same microphone again, “Set as Default Communication Device”.
• Right-click unused recording devices such as webcam microphones, virtual audio cables or streaming passthroughs and disable them.
• Apply, OK, restart the game.

The second step is the decisive one: one reporter already had the microphone set as default device, but a virtual passthrough device was still sitting on the communication channel. Everything else about comms is in our voice chat and microphone article.

Going prone does not work with a weapon out

One player reported that the dedicated prone key does nothing with a weapon drawn while crouch is set to hold. After verifying the game files exactly this point was fixed, while a second bug reported in the same thread remained. That is a good example of why verifying files is worth it before spending a long time in the settings. If it does not help: set crouch to toggle instead of hold as a test and reassign the prone key.

When a device counts as a gamepad although it is not one

The same thread showed a pattern beyond the single case: an Azeron keyboard is intermittently detected as a gamepad by Steam although it only sends keyboard input. Support then asked for all unnecessary devices to be unplugged. If you use special peripherals, pedals, macro pads or virtual controllers, rule those out first when something breaks, even though those devices are the whole point of the setup. For a test that is reasonable, as a permanent solution it is not, and that is exactly how it should be reported.

Our order in short

• Verify the game files via Steam, then restart.
• Unplug every input device you do not need, disable Steam Input for WARDOGS as a test.
• Peripherals straight into the PC, no hub, no Bluetooth, firmware and drivers current.
• Turn off USB power saving and selective suspend, close peripheral software as a test.
• Set the microphone in mmsys.cpl as default and as communication device, disable unused recording devices.
• Reset the in-game bindings, test crouch on toggle.
• If it persists, report it with DxDiag, device, connection type and time: controller support is officially limited, and every clean report helps with prioritising.