diff --git c/CMakeLists.txt w/CMakeLists.txt
index 63803d8..49982bc 100644
--- c/CMakeLists.txt
+++ w/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ option(MOONCHILD_INPUT_SDL3 "Use SDL3 input backend" ON)
 
 option(MOONCHILD_AUDIO_SDL3 "Use SDL3 audio backend" ON)
 
+# Vendoring options
+option(MOONCHILD_VENDORED_SDL3 "Use vendored SDL3 library" ON)
+option(MOONCHILD_VENDORED_ZLIB "Use vendored zlib library" ON)
+option(MOONCHILD_VENDORED_GAMECONTROLLERDB "Use vendored SDL_GameControllerDB" ON)
+option(MOONCHILD_VENDORED_PL_MPEG "Use vendored pl_mpeg library" ON)
+
 # Aggregate flags
 if(MOONCHILD_WINDOW_SDL3 OR MOONCHILD_RENDERER_SDL3 OR MOONCHILD_INPUT_SDL3 OR MOONCHILD_AUDIO_SDL3)
     set(MOONCHILD_USE_SDL3 ON)
@@ -57,6 +63,7 @@ endif()
 
 # SDL3 stuff
 if(MOONCHILD_USE_SDL3)
+  if(MOONCHILD_VENDORED_SDL3)
     set(SDL_SHARED       OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
     set(SDL_STATIC       ON  CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
     set(SDL_TEST_LIBRARY OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
@@ -74,13 +81,28 @@ if(MOONCHILD_USE_SDL3)
     else()
         message(FATAL_ERROR "Could not find an SDL3 target to link!")
     endif()
+  else()
+    find_package(SDL3)
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 # zlib stuff
-set(ZLIB_BUILD_EXAMPLES OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
-set(ZLIB_BUILD_SHARED   OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
-set(ZLIB_BUILD_STATIC   ON  CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
-add_subdirectory("${LIBRARY_DIR}/zlib" "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/zlib" EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+if(MOONCHILD_VENDORED_ZLIB)
+  set(ZLIB_BUILD_EXAMPLES OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+  set(ZLIB_BUILD_SHARED   OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+  set(ZLIB_BUILD_STATIC   ON  CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+  add_subdirectory("${LIBRARY_DIR}/zlib" "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/zlib" EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+else()
+  find_package(ZLIB)
+endif()
+
+# SDL_gamecontrollerdb path
+if(MOONCHILD_VENDORED_GAMECONTROLLERDB)
+  set(MOONCHILD_GAMECONTROLLERDB_PATH "gamecontrollerdb.txt")
+else()
+  set(MOONCHILD_GAMECONTROLLERDB_PATH "$ENV{MOONCHILD_GAMECONTROLLERDB_PATH}")
+  file(TO_CMAKE_PATH "${MOONCHILD_GAMECONTROLLERDB_PATH}" MOONCHILD_GAMECONTROLLERDB_PATH)
+endif()
 
 # Game + framework
 # TODO: Unglobify this
@@ -171,6 +193,15 @@ target_include_directories(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE
     ${LIBRARY_DIR}/pl_mpeg
     ${BACKEND_INCLUDES}
 )
+if(MOONCHILD_VENDORED_PL_MPEG)
+  target_include_directories(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE
+    ${LIBRARY_DIR}/pl_mpeg
+  )
+else()
+  target_include_directories(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE
+    $ENV{MOONCHILD_PL_MPEG_PATH}
+  )
+endif()
 
 # Backend selection macros
 if(MOONCHILD_WINDOW_SDL3)
@@ -185,6 +216,11 @@ if(MOONCHILD_RENDERER_SDL3)
 endif()
 if(MOONCHILD_INPUT_SDL3)
     target_compile_definitions(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE MOONCHILD_INPUT_SDL3)
+    if(NOT MOONCHILD_GAMECONTROLLERDB_PATH STREQUAL "")
+        target_compile_definitions(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE
+            MOONCHILD_GAMECONTROLLERDB_PATH=\"${MOONCHILD_GAMECONTROLLERDB_PATH}\"
+        )
+    endif()
 endif()
 if(MOONCHILD_AUDIO_SDL3)
     target_compile_definitions(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE MOONCHILD_AUDIO_SDL3)
@@ -201,10 +237,16 @@ if(MSVC)
     target_compile_definitions(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS)
 endif()
 
-target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE zlibstatic)
+if(MOONCHILD_VENDORED_ZLIB)
+  target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE zlibstatic)
+else()
+  target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE ZLIB::ZLIB)
+endif()
 
-if(MOONCHILD_USE_SDL3)
+if(MOONCHILD_USE_SDL3 AND MOONCHILD_VENDORED_SDL3)
     target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE ${MOONCHILD_SDL_TARGET})
+elseif(MOONCHILD_USE_SDL3 AND NOT MOONCHILD_VENDORED_SDL3)
+    target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PRIVATE SDL3::SDL3)
 endif()
 
 # Platform specific configuration
@@ -239,7 +281,7 @@ set_target_properties(${EXECUTABLE_NAME} PROPERTIES
     RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_RELEASE        ${MOONCHILD_BIN_DIR}/Release
 )
 
-if(MOONCHILD_INPUT_SDL3 AND NOT EMSCRIPTEN)
+if(MOONCHILD_INPUT_SDL3 AND NOT EMSCRIPTEN AND MOONCHILD_VENDORED_GAMECONTROLLERDB)
     add_custom_command(TARGET ${EXECUTABLE_NAME} POST_BUILD
         COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_if_different
             "${LIBRARY_DIR}/SDL_GameControllerDB/gamecontrollerdb.txt"
diff --git c/Platform/Backends/Input/SDL3Input.cpp w/Platform/Backends/Input/SDL3Input.cpp
index d214516..1412c00 100644
--- c/Platform/Backends/Input/SDL3Input.cpp
+++ w/Platform/Backends/Input/SDL3Input.cpp
@@ -19,10 +19,12 @@ bool SDL3Input::Init()
         return false;
     }
 
-    if (SDL_AddGamepadMappingsFromFile("gamecontrollerdb.txt") < 0)
+#ifdef MOONCHILD_GAMECONTROLLERDB_PATH
+    if (SDL_AddGamepadMappingsFromFile(MOONCHILD_GAMECONTROLLERDB_PATH) < 0)
     {
         printf("SDL gamepad mapping load failed! %s\n", SDL_GetError());
     }
+#endif
 
     int count = 0;
     if (SDL_JoystickID* ids = SDL_GetGamepads(&count))