diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/gamepad.rs b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/gamepad.rs
index ba8b16ad..12c9ec15 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/gamepad.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/gamepad.rs
@@ -221,6 +221,30 @@ fn degrade_steam_on_conflict(chosen: GamepadPref) -> GamepadPref {
     chosen
 }
 
+/// Whether an Xbox-family pad should be built as a real **HID** device
+/// ([`crate::inject::xbox_windows`]) instead of the **XUSB** companion
+/// ([`crate::inject::gamepad`]). Windows only; `PUNKTFUNK_XBOX_BACKEND=hid` opts in.
+///
+/// **Why this is a knob and not simply the new default.** The XUSB companion registers only
+/// `GUID_DEVINTERFACE_XUSB` and exposes no HID collection, so Steam's hidapi enumeration,
+/// DirectInput, `joy.cpl` and WGI/GameInput cannot see it at all — only classic `XInputGetState`
+/// via xinput1_4's interface walk does. That is what left a reporter with a dead controller for two
+/// weeks (2026-08-09) until they switched the client to DualSense, a real HID pad.
+///
+/// But the converse is not yet proven: classic-XInput games DO read the XUSB pad today, and whether
+/// Windows promotes our HID pad into an Xbox-profile device that XInput and WGI `Gamepad` accept is
+/// exactly the open question. Until that is settled on glass, flipping the default would trade a
+/// known-working path for an unproven one. Opt in, measure, then decide.
+///
+/// The two backends are mutually exclusive per pad by construction (one match arm or the other) —
+/// presenting both would hand a game two controllers for one pair of hands.
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+pub(super) fn windows_xbox_hid() -> bool {
+    std::env::var("PUNKTFUNK_XBOX_BACKEND")
+        .map(|v| v.trim().eq_ignore_ascii_case("hid"))
+        .unwrap_or(false)
+}
+
 /// Resolve the client's gamepad-backend preference (the env/logging shell around
 /// [`pick_gamepad`]). Always concrete — the `Welcome` reports what the session will drive.
 pub(super) fn resolve_gamepad(pref: GamepadPref) -> GamepadPref {
diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/input.rs b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/input.rs
index 377d5037..3a1a56bd 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/input.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/input.rs
@@ -123,6 +123,11 @@ struct Pads {
     steamctrl2_puck: Option<crate::inject::steam_controller2::Triton2Manager>,
     #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
     dualsense_win: Option<crate::inject::dualsense_windows::DualSenseWindowsManager>,
+    /// The HID-visible Xbox pad ([`crate::inject::xbox_windows`]) — used INSTEAD of `xbox360`'s
+    /// XUSB companion when [`super::gamepad::windows_xbox_hid`] says so. Never both at once: two
+    /// devices for one wire pad is the "the game sees two controllers" bug.
+    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+    xbox_hid: Option<crate::inject::xbox_windows::XboxWindowsManager>,
     #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
     dualsense_edge_win: Option<crate::inject::dualsense_edge_windows::DualSenseEdgeWindowsManager>,
     #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
@@ -165,6 +170,8 @@ impl Pads {
             #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
             dualsense_win: None,
             #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+            xbox_hid: None,
+            #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
             dualsense_edge_win: None,
             #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
             dualshock4_win: None,
@@ -291,6 +298,16 @@ impl Pads {
                 .steamdeck_win
                 .get_or_insert_with(crate::inject::steam_deck_windows::SteamDeckWindowsManager::new)
                 .handle(ev),
+            // The Xbox pad, as a real HID device rather than the XUSB companion. Opt-in for now
+            // (see `windows_xbox_hid`): XUSB is what classic-XInput games read today, and this
+            // trades that for the Steam / WGI / GameInput / DirectInput visibility XUSB can never
+            // have — a swap that has to be proven on glass before it becomes the default.
+            #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+            GamepadPref::Xbox360 | GamepadPref::XboxOne if super::gamepad::windows_xbox_hid() => {
+                self.xbox_hid
+                    .get_or_insert_with(crate::inject::xbox_windows::XboxWindowsManager::new)
+                    .handle(ev)
+            }
             _ => self
                 .xbox360
                 .get_or_insert_with(crate::inject::gamepad::GamepadManager::new)
@@ -451,6 +468,11 @@ impl Pads {
         }
         #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
         {
+            if let Some(m) = &mut self.xbox_hid {
+                // Rumble only — an Xbox pad has no rich-feedback plane (no lightbar / adaptive
+                // triggers), same as its XUSB sibling above.
+                m.pump(&mut rumble, &mut hidout);
+            }
             if let Some(m) = &mut self.dualsense_win {
                 m.pump(&mut rumble, &mut hidout);
             }