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Valve may have wanted to keep one more card close to its chest, but the internet rarely waits for permission. An early YouTube review of the company’s next Steam Controller appears to have gone live ahead of schedule, disappeared quickly, and then resurfaced elsewhere with the detail everyone was hunting for: a price tag of about €93.
That figure, if accurate, puts Valve’s new gamepad in a curious place. It is not priced like a standard console controller, but it is not trying to sit in the luxury tier either. Sony’s regular DualSense and Microsoft’s Xbox Wireless Controller can often be found for less, while enthusiast hardware such as the DualSense Edge or Xbox Elite Series 2 climbs far higher. Valve seems to be aiming straight for the middle, where expectations get complicated fast.
The awkward magic of a controller built for PC gaming
This is not just another two-stick pad with a Steam logo slapped on the front. The leaked video reportedly shows the same next-generation Steam Controller Valve revealed alongside its upcoming Steam Machine in November 2025, part of the company’s renewed push to make PC gaming feel natural on a living room TV.
And that is where the price starts to make more sense. The controller is expected to bring back Valve’s very particular idea of what a PC-first gamepad should be: dual trackpads, gyro aiming, TMR thumbsticks, four rear buttons, and a wireless dongle that also works as a magnetic charging puck. That is a lot of hardware for something meant to bridge the gap between mouse-and-keyboard precision and couch-friendly comfort.
For anyone who remembers the original Steam Controller, this all sounds familiar. That first model was clever, strange, and not always easy to love. Some players swore by it. Others bounced off within minutes. It tried to solve a real problem, namely how to play PC games designed for a mouse from the sofa, but the learning curve was steep and the design felt more experimental than effortless.
This new version looks like Valve has listened. Better sticks. More buttons. A more polished wireless setup. Deeper Steam Input integration. Less of the old “you need to configure everything yourself” energy, at least in theory.
Still, €93 is the number people will argue about. On Reddit and other gaming forums, the reaction has already split into predictable camps. One side sees a controller that costs more than mainstream console pads and asks why anyone should pay the premium. The other side sees trackpads, gyro support, rear inputs and Steam’s famously flexible remapping tools, then shrugs and says: if it works, it works.
That last part is the whole story. Valve does not need this controller to beat Xbox or PlayStation on familiarity. It needs to make Steam users feel as if their library finally belongs on the biggest screen in the house without compromises, hacks or a keyboard balanced awkwardly on the couch.
If the leaked price is real, the new Steam Controller is not being positioned as a cheap accessory. It is being framed as the missing piece in Valve’s living room PC puzzle. Bold move? Absolutely. But with Valve, the weird stuff is often where the interesting things happen.
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