*hey, we rhymed!
You can officially start adding Steam Controller to cart on May 4th, and we’re excited for folks to get their hands on it (pun intended). You can learn more about Steam Controller (and bookmark it for when purchasing opens) on the official product page, but we thought it would be fun to do a quick intro here as well.
This controller is packed with a ton of capabilities, so we wanted to take a moment to introduce you to what we think makes it so great.
Steam Controller is designed with all the inputs for you to play all your games on Steam, however you like to play. PC? Check. Laptop? Check. Steam Deck, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame? Check, check, and check. All the inputs you’d expect for a typical gamepad are right where you’d expect them, and we spent a lot of time ensuring they feel comfy in your hands for extended play session. And all the extra inputs? Ready and waiting for you when you want to use them.
Upgrades!
The Steam Controller uses next-generation magnetic thumbsticks with TMR technology. Designed for an improved feel, responsiveness, and long-term reliability, they also support capacitive touch for motion controls.
Also, it comes with a puck. The Steam Controller puck has two jobs: it provides a fast and stable connection as a wireless transmitter and serves as your main charging station, connecting magnetically to your Controller with a super-satisfying click.
Advanced Inputs for gaming flexibility and performance
We wanted to make sure to highlight the advanced inputs in this controller that really give you the power and flexibility to play how you want:
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Trackpads
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Gyro
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Grip Sense
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Grip buttons
We’re highlighting some of the main features of Trackpads, Gyro, and Grip Sense below; but we’ll also provide a more in-depth look for each of them in the coming weeks as we share their user guides, as well as details on ways you can customize these features for your experience.
Why trackpads?
Many games on PC are intended to be used with a mouse (think FPS, puzzle games, point-and-click adventures, and deck builders, in addition to a lot of older games). The trackpads on Steam Controller provide an enormous amount of flexibility for playing, especially in their ability to act as a mouse replacement for these kinds of games. They’re highly precise and customizable, which allows you to dial them in whether for a cozy puzzle game or a highly competitive shooter.
Besides just using them as a mouse, in Steam Input you have the option to map them as many other things as well, like button clusters, joystick, virtual menus, and more.
Gyro seems cool; what does that mean on Steam Controller?
Gyroscopes and accelerometers aren’t new to gaming (nor to Valve devices), but more recently the growth of the gyro gaming community (specifically those who really “dial it in” for competitive games) has helped drive the technology forward. The gyroscope is a highly precise sensor that detects the rotation of the entire controller, meaning as you’re gaming with your Steam Controller you can find yourself aiming, controlling cameras, steering wheels, and flight yokes with the tilt of the wrists.
We have a whole step-by-step guide for getting the most out of the gyro on Steam Controller that we’ll be sharing soon on the product page. You should check it out!
But first– we can’t talk about gyro on Steam Controller without talking about Grip Sense.
Wait, what is Grip Sense?
Grip Sense is what we’re calling the new input that uses capacitive touch sensors to sense if you’re holding the handles. There is one sensor in each handle of the Steam Controller. The primary use for this is to enable/disable Gyro quickly so you can reset your position when you get to the edge of your comfortable zone (called “ratcheting”). Kind of like when you reach the end of your mousepad and pick up your mouse to recenter it.
You can even map Grip Sense like any other button! We love using it to pull up menus, weapon wheels, and even pause the game when you put the controller down.
Grip Buttons
Grip buttons give you 4 extra, easy to use buttons for you to map whatever you want to. They are most especially useful when mapped to ABXY: you never have to move your thumb off the right stick or trackpad, allowing you to maintain precision at all times.
Powered by Steam Input
The Steam Controller and Steam Input would swipe right on each other if they could. (That’s a terrible pun that just means they’re a great match.) Using all the customization tools we provide in Steam Input Configurator, you can customize the Steam Controller however you want. The possibilities are limitless! (Well technically there is a finite amount of possibilities but it’s a really big number – it lets you do some crazy things)
Bonus cool factor with this? Steam Controller will be pre-populated with community configurations for thousands of games out-of-the box, and a good chunk of that is thanks to the hard work done by developers and the community for Steam Deck. You can also make and share your own!
More to come
We’ll have more posts leading up to launch and beyond including how to guides, deeper looks at how we arrived at some of the features we did (including Grip Sense), and tips for things like traveling with your Steam Controller, different connectivity modes, and more.
