Steam Controller Buying Guide

The new Steam Controller is almost here. It’s set to release Monday, May 4 at 10 a.m. PT (or 1 p.m. ET). It costs $99.99 and will be available exclusively through Steam; you’ll be able to order it here once the listing goes live. Read on for everything you need to know about this innovative new controller.

Steam Controller

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Most other gaming devices are available at a variety of retailers, from Amazon to Walmart. But Valve likes to do things a little differently. And since Gabe and co. have their own (extremely popular) online storefront, they’re selling it there and nowhere else, much like the Steam Deck.

What’s so great about this controller? One big benefit is the wealth of input options. Valve was very creative and forward-thinking when it designed the Steam Deck to be able to play a whole bunch of PC games that would be either annoying or impossible to play on a traditional controller. The new Steam Controller employs all of those Steam Deck control innovations, plus a few more for good measure.

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For starters, it has all the same basic controls you’d find on a PS5 or Xbox controller: a D-pad, two analog sticks, four face buttons, two triggers, and two bumpers. Like some pro/elite controllers, it has four back buttons you can assign to act as any other buttons on the device. But like the Steam Deck, the new Steam Controller also has two touchpads that can act as mice, keyboard inputs, weapon-select wheels, and more, depending on the game you’re playing.

The analog sticks use TMR technology, which is precise, reliable, and power efficient. It’s also supposed to be immune to stick drift, something that has plagued more than one of my previous controllers. The tops of the sticks are touch capacitive, as are the grips. You can assign these touch sensors to enable tilt functionality, which some players like to use to assist their aiming in FPS games.

It also comes with a magnetic puck that plugs into a USC port on your computer. This allows the controller to charge, and to be played “wired” to your computer.

Steam Controller – Hands-On Photos

The Steam Controller is incredibly programmable as well. You can assign any button to act like any other button on the device, or even to register as keys on a keyboard or clicks on a mouse. You can map buttons to multiple control inputs if you want. Valve also has a “community layout” option for each game, which lets anyone upload their personal control scheme. These are sorted by popularity by default, and you can download and use any layout you find. The options are basically endless.

These are just some of the features of the Steam Controller. You can check out our full review of the Steam Controller to see what our tech expert Bo Moore thought about it.

Finally, a note on the price. I’ve seen some internet chatter about the Steam Controller being pricy, but I have to say, I don’t think it’s overpriced. It’s hardly more expensive than other first-party game controllers, yet it has a number of additional useful features not found on the competition. For instance, the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller costs $89.99, with significantly fewer features than the Steam Controller (it has no track pads, no TMR sticks, and no capacitative grips or sticks, to say nothing of community layouts and customizability).