Valve Software’s Steam Controller originally hit the PC gaming scene in November 2015 for a mere $50. Now the company is unleashing a number of accessories to customize the peripheral, with the current batch consisting of the Steam Controller Wireless Receiver, the Steam Controller Battery Door, the Steam Controller Carrying Case, and three special “skins” to decorate the controller’s outer shell. Of course, these skins are based on Valve’s own games spanning Portal and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
The accessories arrive after Valve Software said in June that it had sold more than 500,000 Steam Controllers since launch. The peripheral is compatible with thousands of PC games available on the Steam platform. It packs two trackpads for your thumbs instead of a D-button and second analog stick, high-definition haptic feedback, back grip buttons, and more. Users can even customize the control schemes through the Steam client.
“The Steam Controller‘s dual trackpads enable the high-fidelity input required for precise PC gaming in the living room,” the product page states. “Allowing for 1:1 absolute position input via virtual controls like a trackball, adaptive centering joystick, or steering wheel, these surfaces can be programmed to serve up whatever a game needs.”
The Steam Controller is part of Valve’s transformation of the living room. The company wants to see PC gaming take precedence over traditional consoles by offering powerful, compact gaming PCs that do more than just play games. The initiative even includes a $50 set-top box called Steam Link that will stream PC games to the living room TV if a gaming PC is already present in the home.
As with the Steam Controller, the Steam Link box can now be customized too. Valve Software currently lists three skins that can be applied to the device’s surface, all of which stem from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The choices consist of a blue/orange combo, blue camouflage, and gray camouflage.
Valve recently said that more and more developers are jumping on the Steam Controller bandwagon. A few examples include games like Doom, XCOM 2, and Dark Souls III for Windows PC. Users can also use the controller on non-Steam games, and create a template of their favorite settings that can be used across multiple titles. The controller can even work in Steam’s VR Game Theater mode.
“With every controller that comes online we get the opportunity to get more feedback on how to make the Steam Controller even better,” Valve previously said. “We’ll continue to add features and functionality going forward, so be sure to keep giving us feedback on what would make the Steam Controller even better.”
There was a lot of hoopla in the PC gaming community during the development of Valve’s Steam Controller. It was to evolve the way we play PC games, and still serves as a required component for the company’s Steam Machine initiative for PC manufacturers. All that excitement came and went like a puff of hot steam, and now gamers can purchase the controller through Valve itself or from the likes of GameStop. The full accessory lineup can be seen on the Steam website by heading here.
