Valve Confirms May 4 Steam Controller Launch Ahead of Steam Machine

Valve's newest Steam Controller is landing soon and is set to launch on May 4th for $99.99 USD. As we suggested last week following an unlisted unboxing video, the Steam Controller is arriving ahead of the hotly-anticipated Steam Machine and Steam Frame, the launch dates for which remain unconfirmed. Many of the enthusiasts monitoring the upcoming Steam Hardware launches, however, likely have a Steam Deck or existing gaming PC, and the new Steam Controller will work just fine with them.


The new Steam Controller essentially takes the Steam Deck controller layout and converts it into a traditional gamepad form factor. The trackpads, touch-sensitive analogs, and gyro are all present, as well as improved, drift-proof TMR thumbsticks and additional "Grip Sense" sensors on both handles.


Valve's official announcement describes Grip Sense as a "new input that uses capacitive touch sensors to sense if you're holding the handles". It's intended as another way to toggle the gyro feature, but Valve also points out that Grip Sense can be mapped for other buttons. It can even be used to pause a game when setting the controller down.

Early impressions of the controller are positive, and indicate that the D-Pad, buttons, and triggers all feel about the same as on Deck. The sticks seem to offer an improved feel and should be more durable thanks to TMR sensors, and Grip Sense seems like and interesting addition.

Hopefully, we get our hands on a unit sooner rather than later, and will post our first-hand impressions.