Here's When and Where You Can Buy a Steam Controller

• Get it astatine Steam - $99.99

Most different gaming devices are disposable astatine a assortment of retailers, from Amazon to Walmart. But Valve likes to bash things a small differently. And since Gabe and co. person their ain (extremely popular) online storefront, they’re selling it determination and obscurity else, overmuch similar the Steam Deck.

What’s truthful large astir this controller? One large payment is the wealthiness of input options. Valve was precise originative and forward-thinking erstwhile it designed the Steam Deck to beryllium capable to play a full clump of PC games that would beryllium either annoying oregon intolerable to play connected a accepted controller. The caller Steam Controller employs each of those Steam Deck power innovations, positive a fewer much for bully measure.

For starters, it has each the aforesaid basal controls you’d find connected a PS5 oregon Xbox controller: a D-pad, 2 analog sticks, 4 look buttons, 2 triggers, and 2 bumpers. Like immoderate pro/elite controllers, it has 4 backmost buttons you tin delegate to enactment arsenic immoderate different buttons connected the device. But similar the Steam Deck, the caller Steam Controller besides has 2 touchpads that tin enactment arsenic mice, keyboard inputs, weapon-select wheels, and more, depending connected the crippled you’re playing.

The analog sticks usage TMR technology, which is precise, reliable, and powerfulness efficient. It’s besides expected to beryllium immune to instrumentality drift, thing that has plagued much than 1 of my erstwhile controllers. The tops of the sticks are interaction capacitive, arsenic are the grips. You tin delegate these interaction sensors to alteration tilt functionality, which immoderate players similar to usage to assistance their aiming successful FPS games.

It besides comes with a magnetic puck that plugs into a USC larboard connected your computer. This allows the controller to charge, and to beryllium played “wired” to your computer.

The Steam Controller is incredibly programmable arsenic well. You tin delegate immoderate fastener to enactment similar immoderate different fastener connected the device, oregon adjacent to registry arsenic keys connected a keyboard oregon clicks connected a mouse. You tin representation buttons to aggregate power inputs if you want. Valve besides has a “community layout” enactment for each game, which lets anyone upload their idiosyncratic power scheme. These are sorted by popularity by default, and you tin download and usage immoderate layout you find. The options are fundamentally endless.

These are conscionable immoderate of the features of the Steam Controller. You tin cheque retired our afloat reappraisal of the Steam Controller to spot what our tech adept Bo Moore thought astir it.

Finally, a enactment connected the price. I’ve seen immoderate net chatter astir the Steam Controller being pricy, but I person to say, I don't deliberation it's overpriced. It’s hardly much costly than different first-party crippled controllers, yet it has a fig of further utile features not recovered connected the competition. For instance, the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller costs $89.99, with importantly less features than the Steam Controller (it has nary way pads, nary TMR sticks, and nary capacitative grips oregon sticks, to accidental thing of assemblage layouts and customizability).

While Valve primitively announced the Steam Controller alongside the caller Steam Machine and Steam Frame VR headset, those different 2 devices person deed delays owed to the RAM shortage. But if you request a caller controller, peculiarly 1 to play Steam games via PC, Steam Deck, oregon different handhelds, this looks similar a coagulated pick.

Chris Reed is simply a commerce exertion and deals adept for IGN. He besides runs IGN's committee crippled and LEGO coverage. You tin travel him connected Bluesky.