Valve
Leaked images seem to confirm Valve is building on its lessons from the Steam Deck for a new controller
Pushing further on with hardware, a new leak seems to suggest that Valve is already developing a new controller with what they’ve learned with their portable console.
For a few years already, Valve has chosen to think differently from the rest of the industry. They are in a position to try new things that are out of the ordinary. We already saw it at the time with the Steam Controller they released during their first stint with hardware and their “Steam Machines”, as well as with the way they’ve pushed the bar for gaming on Linux thanks to the Steam Deck. It seems like the future will bring even more of their projects, as a recent leak seems to have revealed what they plan to offer players when it comes to their new controllers.
An Evolution of the Steam Controller
Posted online by user @SadlyItsBradley on Twitter/X, a render model of a new controller design was found in the files of Valve’s SteamVR drivers. Even though it’s a very rough render, and the image was quite low quality, the inspiration for this new controller is clear: Valve is taking what it’s learned from the Steam Deck to improve on its previous designs.
Boasting what seems to be a full set of triggers, face buttons, D-Pad, two joysticks, and two haptic touch pads that offer a level of precision that is hard to achieve with regular controllers, this new design is a definitive improvement from their previous attempts. It also looks to be much more ergonomic, although the image doesn’t reveal the backside of the device.
The original Steam Controller only offered a single analog stick, with two very early versions of the haptic touch pads that didn’t quite work as well as the new track pads used on Valve’s Steam Deck. Could this redesign help push Valve further into the hardware race? As of this moment, this is the only proof that exists of Valve’s plans, so until they decide to make an official announcement all we can do is hope and assume that they are.
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