Questions
How to play Genshin Impact on a Mac with a controller
Genshin Impact has no Mac version, so playing it on a Mac means running one of the other versions. There are three routes, and a controller behaves differently in each.
PlayCover: the iOS build on Apple silicon
PlayCover runs the iPad version natively on an M-series Mac, and the iOS build of Genshin has real controller support, so a paired PS5, Xbox, or Switch pad works inside it the way it does on an iPad. This is the smoothest route for controller play. The setup is fiddly and unofficial, and HoYoverse's terms do not cover it, which is worth knowing.
A Wine launcher: the Windows build
Launchers built on Wine run the Windows client on a Mac. The Windows build supports controllers, but the translation layer does not always pass them through. When it does not, InputConfig maps the controller to the keyboard and mouse: left stick to WASD, right stick to mouse look, elemental skill and burst on the shoulders, character swaps on the D-pad. The game sees a keyboard player.
Cloud streaming
Where Genshin's own cloud service is offered, it runs in a browser and takes a controller through the browser's Gamepad API, with the same fallback as above if the stream does not see the pad.
Questions
Is Genshin Impact available on Mac?
No. There is no native Mac client. Mac players run the iOS build through PlayCover, the Windows build through a Wine launcher, or stream it.
Does a controller work with Genshin on a Mac?
In PlayCover, yes, natively. In a Wine launcher, sometimes; InputConfig maps it to the keyboard when the launcher does not pass it through.
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