Valve has confirmed that its Steam Controller will launch on May 4. In Canada, it will be priced at $149.
The move comes as a bit of a surprise, considering the gamepad was part of the hardware lineup that Valve unveiled in November that also included the Steam Machine console and Steam Frame VR headset. We still haven’t gotten official pricing or release timing on those devices, which the company attributed to the rampant global component shortages. And sure enough, Valve confirmed to Polygon that the lack of RAM supply is also why the controller is launching now without its companion console or headset.
For now, at least, you’ll still be able to use the Steam Controller with your PC. The gamepad sports magnetic thumbsticks (TMR, which is like the drift-resistant Hall effect sensors but different technology), four haptic motors for HD rumble, an 8.39Wh battery that promises over 35 hours of gameplay on a single charge and more.
At $149, the Steam Controller is definitely on the higher end of controllers. For context, the standard PS5 DualSense is priced at $94.99, the basic Xbox gamepad is $84.99, and Nintendo’s Switch Joy-Cons and Pro Controller are $124.99 and $109.99, respectively. With that said, many U.S. media outlets got to preview the Steam Controller and have come away with largely positive impressions, for what it’s worth.
You can read more on the Steam Controller on Valve’s website. At the time of writing, there isn’t an option to pre-order the device, with the website simply saying “coming soon.” We’ll update this story once pre-orders are live. It’s worth mentioning that Valve is promising a “good supply” of controllers, so hopefully, stock issues won’t be too much of a problem.
Image credit: Valve
