Valve Demonstrates New Handheld Gaming Controller, Will Be Compatible With Steam for Mac

Valve has released a video demonstrating its Steam Controller, a handheld gaming controller that will eventually be compatible with many Steam games, including popular titles like Portal, Counterstrike and Team Fortress.

The Steam Controller is designed to work with all the games on Steam: past, present, and future. Even the older titles in the catalog and the ones which were not built with controller support. (We’ve fooled those older games into thinking they’re being played with a keyboard and mouse, but we’ve designed a gamepad that’s nothing like either one of those devices.) We think you’ll agree that we’re onto something with the Steam Controller

The Steam Controller includes a touch screen in the center of the device with a pair of trackpads around the outside using "super-precise" haptic feedback and "dual linear resonant actuators" to deliver a range of force and vibration feedback sensations.

The Steam Controller is currently in beta and is designed to work primarily with the Steam Machine set-top box. It will also work with any PC version of Steam, including Steam for Mac.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 21, 2025 2:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices from credible sources. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X...
iPhone 16 Battery Life Feature

iOS 26's New Battery Life Mode Available Only on These iPhone Models

Saturday June 21, 2025 9:02 am PDT by
Last week, we reported that iOS 26 introduces an opt-in Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode. Apple says that Adaptive Power Mode can make "small performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to "take a little longer." The full description of...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

iPhone Reportedly Moving to All-Screen Design in Two Stages

Sunday June 22, 2025 3:58 pm PDT by
Apple has long been working towards an iPhone with an all-screen design, and it might finally achieve the feat in a few more years from now. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple will shrink the size of the Dynamic Island on new iPhone models released next year. A year after that, he expects Apple to release a redesigned 20th-anniversary iPhone model....
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro's Alleged Vapor Chamber Cooling System Partly Revealed

Sunday June 22, 2025 6:37 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models are rumored to be equipped with a vapor chamber cooling system, and a leaker known as Majin Bu today shared a photo of an alleged copper thermal plate for the system. Many high-end Android smartphones like Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra are equipped with a vapor chamber cooling system, which can manage heat dissipation inside the...
ios 26 control center b2

iOS 26 Beta 2 Fixes Control Center Design

Monday June 23, 2025 10:58 am PDT by
With the second beta of iOS 26 that Apple provided to developers today, Apple addressed one of the major complaints that people have had with Liquid Glass. iOS 26 beta 1 on left, iOS 26 beta 2 on right The Control Center buttons are now slightly more opaque, making it easier to see the different control options even on a multicolored background. The new, more opaque look is apparent with the ...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adding Two New Wi-Fi Features, Allows AirDrop and AirPlay Alternatives

Saturday June 21, 2025 7:02 am PDT by
iOS 26 is gaining two new Wi-Fi features, including Captive Assist and Wi-Fi Aware. MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris discovered a reference to Captive Assist within the code for the first iOS 26 developer beta, but Apple has yet to enable the feature. It should be available by the time the software update is released later this year. In his Power On newsletter last month, Bloomberg's...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 2

Monday June 23, 2025 2:57 pm PDT by
Apple provided developers with the second beta of iOS 26, introducing the first changes and refinements to the new operating system since it debuted after the WWDC keynote. Because we're early in the beta testing process, there are quite a few tweaks to iOS 26, which we've rounded up below. Control Center The background behind the Liquid Glass Control Center buttons has more blur, allowing...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 26 Includes These Five Smaller Features You Might Have Missed

Saturday June 21, 2025 11:18 am PDT by
While the dust is beginning to settle on the first iOS 26 beta, we continue to take a closer look at new features coming with the update. Below, we recap five smaller changes that you might have missed. Emoji Game Apple News+ subscribers in the U.S. and Canada can play a new Emoji Game, which tasks players with completing words and phrases with emoji. This is the fifth game that is...
airpods 4 blue

Apple Offering Free AirPods — Here's How to Get Them

Tuesday June 17, 2025 6:33 am PDT by
Apple is running a new promotion that offers free AirPods to qualifying customers. Now through September 30, college and university students in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Singapore can receive free AirPods 4 when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. AirPods Pro 2 are also available at a discount. If you do not want AirPods, the promotion also offers various other...

Top Rated Comments

Gemütlichkeit Avatar
153 months ago
Such a cool design. Major props to Valve for breaking the mold.

----------

Ew, Steam.
-said no one, ever.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SPNarwhal Avatar
153 months ago
So... this is like a combination of a keyboard/mouse and a controller that isn't actually as good as either.

Gotcha.

Works better than a controller for keyboard and mouse games, so it does have a purpose. Plus, it being inferior to a standard controller is opinionated.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bungiefan89 Avatar
153 months ago
So... this is like a combination of a keyboard/mouse and a controller that isn't actually as good as either.

Gotcha.
Oh dear, we need to sit down for a talk... #SomeoneIsWrongOnTheInternet

This isn't by any means a replacement for the keyboard and mouse; it's an option for PC gamers who want to play on the couch in front of their big-screen TV instead of on their computer monitors. It's also for people like me who prefer to use a mouse and keyboard for some PC games (Deus Ex: Human Revolution, StarCraft 2, PlanetSide 2) and prefer to use a controller for other games (Crysis 2, Skyrim, Dishonored).

Valve wants to expand their Steam service into the livingroom instead of the seclusion of one's bedroom or laptop. And in order to do that, they have to have a controller that not only works with every PC game, (like the Steam controller does) but one that's made by them and not a third party like Microsoft or Sony or Logitech. So, they made their own controller with an incredibly bold and modular design.

But if you don't like it, you don't have to use it! ;)

----------

The Six Axis already works pretty good out of the box in OSX, better than in windows. I actually haven't been able to use it in windows at all. I also have GamePad Companion that I can use to remap all the keys. That was only $5 so that's better than having to go out and buy another gamepad when I already have a perfectly somewhat already working one.
Sixaxis works great in OSX? Hmmm... I should try that out.
And yeah, I hear you on your second point. I already have a perfectly functional wired Xbox 360 controller that works great when I use Windows 7 through bootcamp. So I don't have a real need for the Steam controller (which could very well cost upwards of $70 for all I know *insert joke about Steam sales here*) but I'm still excited about the fact that it's provided as an option for gamers to use. :)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
9000 Avatar
153 months ago
Ew, Steam.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Renzatic Avatar
153 months ago
It'll probably work for most games, but for competitive FPS, mouse is still going to win. This is essentially turning mobile phone control back onto a controller..

This has something touchscreens currently don't: haptics. Playing games on your iPhone is just you sliding your thumb across a perfectly flat piece of glass. There's no feedback whatsoever. This controller? Some way, some how, it manages to give you what you expect despite being perfectly flat. I bet something's clicky in it.

Don't believe me? Just listen to what the Team Meat guy has to say about it (http://tommyrefenes.tumblr.com/post/62476523677/my-time-with-the-steam-controller). If you can play Super Meat Boy on this thing without any issues, it's a good controller.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Goff Avatar
153 months ago
So... this is like a combination of a keyboard/mouse and a controller that isn't actually as good as either.

Gotcha.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)