Valve launches the Steam Controller without the Steam Machine

GamingCloseGamingPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All GamingGadgetsCloseGadgetsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All GadgetsNewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All NewsValve launches the Steam Controller without the Steam MachineIt’ll cost $99 on May 4th.It’ll cost $99 on May 4th.by Sean HollisterCloseSean HollisterSenior EditorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Sean HollisterApr 27, 2026, 5:00 PM UTCLinkShareGiftIf you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergePart OfSteam Machines have returned: all the news about Valve’s new hardware universesee all updates Sean HollisterCloseSean HollisterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Sean Hollister is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.Last November, Valve introduced the world to its new vision of living room gaming: the Steam Machine and Steam Controller. Then, RAMageddon. Memory shortages forced Valve to delay all its hardware and reset expectations.Now, Valve is releasing the Steam Controller without the Steam Machine.The Steam Controller is officially going on sale May 4th at 1PM ET for $99 USD, $149 CAD, $149 AUD, £85 in the UK and €99 in the EU. We’ve already spent two weeks with the pad paired to our Steam Decks and gaming desktops, and you can read reviews from my colleagues Jay Peters and Cameron Faulkner right now. It’s pretty great!RelatedValve’s new Steam Controller isn’t perfect, but I’m buying one anywayWhy the Steam Controller is (and isn’t) a big dealWe reviewed Valve’s new Steam Controller, ask us anythingWhat about the Steam Machine living room console and Steam Frame headset? Valve is simply saying stay tuned. “Right now we don’t have any updates on that, but we’re hard at work on it, and we hope to have news soon,” Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais tells The Verge. Valve previously committed to ship the Machine and Frame this year.You do not need a Steam Machine to use the new Steam Controller. It should work with any computer that runs Steam, and as a generic controller for phones too. People have been asking for a successor to the cult classic original Steam Controller, or rather the Steam Deck’s controls shrunk down into a gamepad, ever since the Deck came out. Some Verge readers got pretty excited in 2022 when Valve’s hardware team revealed it would enjoy making that dream come true.The Steam Machine and two Steam Controllers in a photo we took last October. Photo by Everything Time Studio / The VergeNow, Jay writes that the Steam Controller does almost exactly what he’d hoped — he’s playing Steam Deck on the TV, with a more comfortable pad, that keeps his controller profiles and muscle memory intact.The delay for Valve’s other hardware does mean that our Steam Controller reviews feel slightly incomplete. We couldn’t test how well the Steam Controller works with the Steam Machine’s dedicated controller antenna, or how well the Controller works in virtual reality with the Steam Frame. (The controller is a…

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