FIFA 23: Division Rivals controller bug

FIFA 23 is still enjoying its early days in the market. Early access, however, means more glitches and errors. The more players experience the game, the easier it gets for EA developers to debug and fix major errors.

Different game modes have varied errors. Online modes will likely encounter more glitches compared to other modes. Division Rivals is one of FIFA 23’s online modes where players take part in matches to climb up divisions.

Division Rivals players in FIFA 23 are already facing bugs which are frankly quite frustrating. The most common errors in FIFA 23 Division Rivals range from crashing servers, pairing glitches, and controller bugs.

The good news is that there are a few workarounds to help you fix these bugs. One particularly familiar bug is FIFA 23 Division Rivals controller bug that occurs when you launch your division rivalry mode, and immediately your controller stops working.

In some cases, the controller will fail to respond mid-game. The bug is annoying as it often forces you to quit the game.

As you probably know, leaving matches in Divisions Rival could easily affect your ranking. EA has not clarified what exactly causes the error or the outright fix for this.

However, we do have a few tweaks that work in some instances. Try the following steps to fix the controller bug in FIFA 23.

1. Charge your controller

The first fix for your controller issues is to charge the controller. It might seem quite obvious, but your controller’s low power charge will affect your match.

Plug your controller into a power source and allow it to charge fully. You can always start by checking the percentage of power on your controller before starting a match.

2. Disable Steam input for PC players only

For players playing FIFA 23 Division rivals on PC, the error may be caused by Steam settings. Follow these steps:

Open your steam library and navigate to FIFA 23.
Right-click on properties
Select controller
Click on Disable Steam Input

If the above steps do not work, try the following steps:

Launch Origin as an administrator
Open Steam and go to settings
Select controller and head to General Controller Settings
The final step is to choose Disable Xbox Configuration support.

After disabling steam, restart FIFA 23, and the controller should work fine.

3. Change your FIFA 23 Division Rivals default stadium

If the controller is not working on FIFA 23 Division Rivals, you might need to change your default stadium before launching the game mode. To change your default stadium, follow the steps outlined below.

Launch the game and head over to FUT Champions
While on the menu, select club (to do this, press RB on the Xbox controller and R1 on the PlayStation controller.)
Then select stadium and move to structure
On the structure menu, a few stadiums will appear. The first stadium is the default stadium. Here, select any of the remaining stadiums apart from the default.
Restart the game, and your controller should work

4. Restart your console

Like most bugs in some games, the quickest fix usually is a restart of the game or the system. Restarting the game won’t be possible in this case, and you will need to restart your console.

Press and hold the power button on your console to turn it off. Restart the console and launch FIFA 23. Ensure you are online first before going to Division Rivals. Launch the game, and your controller will become functional again.

5. Disconnect and reconnect your controller

This method has proven successful, especially for PC users. Disconnect your keyboard or controller just before starting the match. Once the game is on, reconnect the controller. This should give you control. You can also switch controllers once you restart the match.

The above fixes will surely get you competing again in FIFA 23 Division Rivals. There are moments, however, when the controller bug refuses to go away. In such a case, it is better to retry the fixes or wait for EA to roll out an update.