status: OBS 33 stops showing controller input unless OBS is focused

announcements/2026-10-23-obs-33-background-input.md

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+---
+id: obs-33-background-input
+severity: warning
+title: OBS 33 stops showing controller input while another app is focused
+summary: On OBS 33.0.0, the overlay stops updating as soon as another application takes focus, so controller input does not appear on stream while you are playing. This is a change in OBS rather than in GamePad Viewer, and it is already reported upstream, so there is no need to file a bug. Running OBS as administrator clears it for most setups; downgrading to OBS 32.2.2 is the fallback.
+workaround: Run OBS as administrator. If that does not help, downgrade to OBS 32.2.2.
+links:
+  - label: OBS 32.2.2 release
+    href: https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/releases/tag/32.2.2
+  - label: OBS issue 14083
+    href: https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/issues/14083
+startsAt: 2026-10-23T22:20:29Z
+endsAt:
+---
+
+GamePad Viewer renders in an OBS browser source. From OBS 33.0.0 on, a browser source stops
+receiving controller input as soon as OBS is not the focused application — which is, in practice,
+the whole time you are playing. The overlay freezes on the last input it saw, and starts moving
+again the moment you click back into OBS.
+
+Nothing changed in GamePad Viewer, and nothing is wrong with your controller or your overlay link.
+
+## What you can do
+
+Try running OBS as administrator first. It restores input without leaving the current version.
+Administrator is a Windows notion, so on macOS go straight to the downgrade.
+
+Otherwise, downgrade to OBS 32.2.2, the last release before the change.
+
+## What we are doing
+
+This is a change in OBS rather than something we can fix from our side, so we are following the
+upstream issue rather than working around it in the overlay. It is open, and filed against 33.0.0
+with the same symptom.
+
+We will update this page as that moves, and resolve it once a fixed OBS release is out.