Leaked image suggests Valve’s rumoured new Steam Controller taking design cues from Steam Deck

Following last week’s report Valve is working on a new iteration of its brilliant (if divisive) Steam Controller, a fresh leak has offered what might well be a first look at its refreshed design – and it’s probably not a complete surprise to see it taking plenty of cues from Steam Deck.

Valve’s original Steam Controller was initially unveiled in 2013, amid Valve’s chatter of third-party Steam machines. But while that particular initiative eventually floundered, the controller portion lived on, eventually releasing in November 2015 before saying its farewells four years later amid patent infringement claims relating to its paddle-like rear buttons.

Valve initially lost that case and was ordered to pay $4m in damages, but the company successfully appealed the verdict in August 2021, paving the way for a Steam Controller 2. All of which brings us up to last week, when knowledgeable Valve source Brad Lynch claimed that not only was a new Steam Controller in the works, but that it was “being tooled for a mass production goal in their factories right now”.

Lynch also claimed the new device’s “biggest change will be the shape/size of the trackpads”, with Valve edging toward a more tradition “gamepad-y form”. And, again thanks to Lynch, we’ve now got a much better idea of what the new Steam Controller might look like, thanks to a low-quality image squirrelled in Valve’s SteamVR drivers.

Notably, it looks like Valve is taking many of its cues from Steam Deck this time around – which seems entirely appropriate given how much Valve’s handheld gaming PC owed to the original Steam Controller. Assuming the newly discovered render is accurate, Valve’s second iteration of its controller could, like the Steam Deck, feature a more traditional twin analog stick set-up alongside twin track pads (one pad below each stick), all patched into what appears to be a much more ergonomic design.

The original Steam Deck’s single analog stick set-up wasn’t universally loved, but its been a staple of my couch/PC set-up ever since launch thanks to those track pads. The newly uncovered Steam Controller design, then, is definitely encouraging, promising the best of both worlds.

Officially, of course, Valve’s Steam Controller 2 remains a rumour at present, but an exciting one nonetheless (although I’ll readily admit I probably love the original controller more than most). And it’s not the only new hardware rumoured to be in the works at Valve: the company is also said to be working on a new standalone hybrid VR headset known as “Deckard”, which’ll apparently feature new wand-like controllers, codenamed Roy.