By 
Thank you to Valve for sending me an early Steam Controller for this accessibility focused review.
I hope you’ll forgive a short diversion, but I want to start this review discussing a piece of gaming hardware from 2015.
The first Generation Steam Controller, released 11 years ago, was a fascinating but niche piece of technology I was a pretty big defender of. It was also designed in such a way that it could never have been my primary or exclusive PC controller of choice.
The controller featured a single analogue stick, ABXY face buttons, bumpers, triggers, and two large circular touch panels (one plain, and one inlaid with a D-Pad style cross pattern)
Back in 2015, this controller was fantastic when applied to specific niche use cases. It worked well for point and click adventure games or RTS titles that needed mouse pointer input, it was a solid choice for PC games that lacked proper controller support, and was a good pick for MMOs that had controller support but still needed occasional mouse input.
It didn’t work so well for third person adventure games that wanted a true second analogue stick, and it was pretty terrible for any game that heavily relied on D-Pad directional inputs. Fighting games and side scrolling platformers were basically unplayable, and meant a more traditional controller would always need to be on hand.
Still, it had its use cases. There were genres for which its weird bespoke control scheme was the best tool for the job.
Skipping forward to 2026 and the second generation Steam Controller is now out in the wild – or near enough. At the time of writing this review draft the controller has been available to order for about 24 hours, but as far as I know the general public generally don’t have the unit in their hands yet.
I’ve had my hands on the controller since the start of this week, and have spent the past three days playing a wide variety of genres of games with it. I’m certain my feelings on the controller will evolve over time, but I think I’ve had long enough with it to have a solid idea how I feel about the final retail version of the device.
The Basic (Non Accessibility) Surface Facts and Impressions
The Generation 2 Steam Controller (which I will just call the Steam Controller going forward) retails for $99 USD, or £85 here in the UK. This makes it roughly £35 more than a standard Xbox Series controller, and £20 more than the basic standard PS5 Dualsense controller. The price is definitely premium compared to its two closest PC controller competitors, but it does have a number of unique features packed in to try and justify that cost.
At its core the Steam Controller feels pretty comparable in quality, size, and weight to its competition. Its closest direct comparison is an Xbox Series controller, with a very slight weight increase, a little flatter, and with the plastic in the centre extended to further down the grips giving it a slightly more square shape.
It’s easy to at a glance to look at the Steam Controller and compare it to the Steam Deck, with its screen removed and two halves brought together. That’s not an unfair comparison to make, in many ways it does feel and behave like a Steam Deck, but there are ergonomic improvements that the comparison does a disservice to.
The plastic on the Steam Controller will feel very familiar to Steam Deck users, as will the chime sound and basic layout. The controller features a D-Pad and ABXY buttons, two analogue sticks, and two trackpads laid out in basically the same configuration as the Steam Deck, but a little more ergonomically arranged.
I’m not someone with particularly large hands, and I found that the controller’s inputs were close enough together to reach between without needing to rearrange my grip. Going from analogue sticks, to buttons, to trackpads could all be done with relative ease for me from a neutral position.
The buttons themselves are a tiny bit larger than those on the Steam Deck, but we’re talking at most 1mm difference. The buttons are fairly low resistance to press, and very quiet when pushed. The D-Pad is much closer in feel and sound to a Dualsense D-Pad than an Xbox D-Pad, not featuring the Xbox controller’s tactile and audible click. After general testing, I would say that the D-Pad and face buttons on the Steam Controller are probably the quietest of the three main controllers I rested.
The Steam Controller D-Pad is also very reliable. I put it through its paces attempting motion inputs in fighting games and had decent reliability inputting moves, and rarely if ever notices accidental diagonal movements registering in precision 2D titles.
The Steam Controller also features two bumpers (Reliably register no matter where pressed), two analogue triggers (fairly low resistance), and a total of four additional buttons on the back of the controller, two on each side. These were perhaps a little low for my tastes resting closest to my ring and pinkie fingers, but were pronounced enough to easily find by touch, and provided just enough resistance to not accidentally trigger unintentionally.
The analogue sticks are something called TMR sticks, which stands for Tunnel Magnetto Resistance. I won’t pretend to understand how the tech works, but from a quick search online the headline seems to be “Stick drift resistant like Hall Effect sticks, but less power hungry than that technology”. By default the sticks are rounded, with an indent in the top. They feel decent, and I have little reason not to believe the claims about their drift resistance and input reliability.
The big selling point of the Steam Controller compared to the competition is obviously the presence of 2 touch pads below the analogue sticks. These small squares in practice feel very comparable to those on the Steam Deck, in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, and haptic feedback. As someone who likes the touch pad support on the Steam Deck there’s basically nothing different here I want to complain about. They are slightly angled, and I’ll get into that in a bit.
Lastly, there’s a few types of input on the Steam Controller that are not well advertised but worth noting. The analogue sticks are capacitive, meaning that they can tell when your thumb is resting on top of them. This is different from L3 and R3, you don’t need to click the sticks in for them to register input. The controller supports Gyro, allowing for aiming or mouse control via motion. Most interesting and unique perhaps is that the controller can tell when you’re holding the left or right grip of the controller, and you can map inputs to gripping or letting go on one side of the device.
While letting go of one side of the controller doesn’t feel like it has any immediately obvious uses, in my first few days with the controller I’ve found myself mapping letting go of the left grip so that it hits the start button and pauses the game, allowing the game to basically pause itself if I put the controller down. While not vital to me, I’m going to come back to this in the accessibility focused section of the review.
The controller battery has a decent capacity at around 30 hours from a full charge, but does not support audio passthrough for wired headsets.
How is The Steam Controller to Actually Use as Your Primary PC Controller?
If you’re someone who primarily plays PC games via Steam, the Steam Controller is unsurprisingly incredibly well supported right out the box. If you play games on other storefronts, things are a little less smooth.
The Steam Controller can be connected to a PC via either wired USB-C Connection, Bluetooth pairing, or via a small magnetic charging / wireless connection puck. The latter has been my default way of using the controller – It provides a rock solid wireless connection over good distances, and makes charging the controller while playing really easy.
The puck’s magnetic connection is strong enough that it’s easy to pop into place by touch without looking at the back of the controller, but also not so strong that it’s likely to provide a major access barrier when disconnecting for most users.
Perhaps most importantly, as I know I’m forgetful and clumsy, it does a great job of reducing the risk of damaging ports on the PC or controller. I’ve numerous times over the years damaged controllers or USB ports by accidently janking a controller cable unintentionally while gaming, and the magnetic puck provides an obvious break point in the design which will detach before any damage is done to the controller.
When in a full screen version of Steam (Big Picture Mode or Steam OS) the controller functions exactly the same as the controls on a Steam Deck in terms of navigation, menu access, and basic functionality.
Controller profiles for games you’ve previously played on the SteamDeck will automatically be applied by default to your Steam Controller when first booting up a game, but the same will not happen in reverse for games you play first on the Steam Controller, presumably because the Steam Controller supports new inputs such as grip sensing which would not be supported on the Steam Deck.
Games booted via Steam are able to access all features of the Steam Controller. Games not booted via Steam are a slightly different matter.
When not playing a Steam game or in Steam Big Picture mode or Steam OS, by default the Steam controller falls back to something Valve are calling “Lizard Mode”. Rather than being registered as an Xbox controller with some bespoke control inputs disabled, the controller instead functions primarily as a mouse. Either trackpad can be used to move the mouse, with L2 and R2 acting as the left and right mouse click inputs. This may be sufficient for browsing media on your TV, or playing games with simple inputs such as some classic Point and Click Adventure Games.
If you want to use this as a fully featured controller for non Steam games you’ve got a couple of options available.
You can use a program called SISR, or Steam Input system Redirector, to basically trick your PC into seeing the controller as an Xbox controller outside of Steam. This will work system wide, but won’t give you access to the trackpads, touch grip inputs, gyro controls, etc.
The alternative is that you can add your non Steam games into Steam. Launching the EXE via Steam gets you access to that full suite of options you presumably bought the controller to access.
Mileage will vary on how much of a barrier that feels like. I stopped subscribing to GamePass a while ago, and mostly use the Epic Games Store to download their free game offerings. As such, for me, adding the occasional Itch.io exe to Steam isn’t a huge barrier.
The controller can be used to wake up a Windows PC from sleep, which can be useful if you’re using the controller as a mouse replacement for a PC media centre in the living room.
My biggest complaint back in the day about the 1st Generation Steam Controller was that there were a number of genres it simply wasn’t a good fit for, and in practice that meant it was never going to be my default controller on the platform. It had niche uses, but wouldn’t replace a standard controller in my setup.
By comparison the new Steam Controller basically fixes all of the major issues I had with the original. It’s got two analogue sticks and a proper D-Pad, without compromising the value that trackpads bring to a controller. This is going to, from here on out, be my default controller for most PC gaming. It’s got touch and gyro to help emulate mouse input on the sofa, a quiet and accurate D-Pad and buttons, a solid battery life and wireless connection, and a good variety of places to map additional controller inputs. It’s a little more expensive than an Xbox or PS5 controller, but I appreciate the additional features offered.
I don’t know if I would have paid £85 for a Steam Controller as someone who already had the option of a Dualsense and Xbox Series controller to use on my PC, but if I lost all my past controllers tonight and had to pick a replacement tomorrow, I suspect I’d go for the Steam Controller (if it wasn’t sold out).
Accessibility – Unboxing, Teardown, Repairs, and Modding
The outermost box the Steam Controller ships in is secured shut with tape. Once inside the main box is secured shut with a thin cardboard strip with small unsecured edges. While the edges of the cardboard pull tab are small and may be hard for some users to initially grip, the strength required to pull the strip once gripped is fairly minimal.
Once inside the packaging the controller and dongle are immediately able to be picked up from the lower packaging. A large hole in the top cardboard is used to lift a flap revealing the included USB-C cable, which is held in shape using a cardboard loop rather than twist ties. The cardboard can be slid off one end of the cable rather than needing to be pulled apart or torn open.
In terms of opening up the physical outer shell of the controller, the back plate is held in place by seven star shaped screws. Some of the screw holes are deep and narrow, requiring a screwdriver with a lengthy and thin profile. This may make unscrewing some of these screws tricky, as a lengthy nose and thin handle in combination can make initially getting traction to start turning the screw a little challenging.
Once the screws are removed, there are no plastic clips holding the back shell to the main body. Unlike many other electronics, the Steam Deck included, you won’t need to use a pry tool such as a spudger to pry the two halves of the plastic shell apart, a common area of difficulty for disabled gamers looking to remove electronics casing. There are additionally no ribbon cables connecting the rear shell to the main body, meaning the back plate can be removed without requiring dexterity to avoid damage.
The battery is easy to access with the back panel off, with no glue holding it in place. Replacing the battery should be fairly easy for any user able to unscrew the screws holding the back panel in place. The ribbon cables to disconnect the main rumble motors are also accessible without further controller disassembly.
The general interior layout of the controller is pretty easy to understand, and compared to other controllers on the simpler end in terms of dexterity required for disassembly.
The analogue sticks on the Steam Controller are unfortunately soldered to a board, and as such not able to be easily replaced. However, the thumb caps that pop through the outer shell of the controller and interact with can be removed from the analogue stick pivot mechanism, meaning that it should be possible to design a custom thumb stick topper replacement. This would require mostly disassembling the controller which for some users may require some assistance. I do not at present have 3D print specifications to help folks design replacement analogue toppers, but I do suspect that will be possible in the future.
Replacing the analogue stick toppers will disable the capacitive touch functions of the analogue sticks, meaning that the controller will no longer be able to sense if your thumb is touching the analogue stick gently, and treat that as a possible input option.
Valve staff have indicated to me that they plan to make 3D print files for the Steam Controller shell available fairly close to launch, though they were not specific about precisely when that might be. Their intention is to make these files available to assist in creating accessibility focused mod projects. For example, there is no screw mount thread on the back of the controller, someone could use their upcoming 3D print files to create a new backplate for the controller with something like a fitting for a mount.
Replacing the back plate with a custom 3D printed alternative looks like it would be theoretically simple, and I do believe they are sincere in their desire to help facilitate disabled users making more accessible alternative shells for the controller.
I hope that they will also provide 3D print files to assist players who wish to design new thumbstick toppers.
Accessibility – Physical Use and Software
In terms of one handed use, the Steam Controller is, as cliche as it is to say, a mixed bag. The controller lacks as default a mounting thread, and is slightly larger and heavier than its competition to hold with a single hand, but it does feature a wide variety of extra buttons and reprogrammable inputs useful for mapping all needed controls to a single side of the device. One might, for example, map one of the L4 or L5 back buttons on the left side to act as a toggle, switching the left analogue stick to functioning like a right analogue stick temporarily. They might additionally program the left D-Pad to function like ABXY buttons, and map lesser used functions to a radial menu on the left touch pad.
In terms of general comfort during lengthy play sessions, I have found the Steam Controller considerably more comfortable and ergonomic than the Steam Deck during extended play sessions. I suspect this is a combination of reduced weight due to lack of screen, but because the controller grips are pointed in a more naturally comfortable angle to hold, with the buttons placed in less strenuous to reach positions.
If you’re a user who needs to use the Steam Controller in a rotated orientation, you’ll be glad to know that both the analogue sticks and touchpads can have their north orientation rotated 180 degrees in either direction.
The Steam Controller cannot at present be used alongside a second controller as a single input user (see Xbox Controller Assist Mode or connecting Multiple PlayStation Access Controllers to a PS5 at once). Valve are aware of interest in the feature, but do not support it at present.
For users who struggle with rumble or haptic feedback, both can be disabled on a software level when using the controller within Steam’s ecosystem. If you’re someone who would prefer to physically disable rumble and haptics on the hardware level that is possible, with caveats.
Disabling the main rumble motors on a hardware level is simple – Unscrew the back faceplate, and unplug two easy to spot ribbon cables.
Disabling the touch pad haptics on a hardware level is more complicated, and is not advised by Valve. I messaged Valve to ask about how someone would go about doing so (on the request of a disabled gamer who needed to avoid haptic feedback when using the controller outside of Steam) and received the following response.
Our recommendation for disabling the haptics on the trackpads is to do it though the controller settings page.
Physically disabling the haptics on the trackpads is non-trivial and will require a permanent modification that would void the warranty of the controller. However, if someone wanted to do it, they would need to follow these instructions.
- Open the back case by removing the 7 – T6 screws from the back of the case
- Remove the battery
- Remove the 0402 resistor that connects Trackpad Haptic Enable at location R163 per the image below
This will disable the electrical drive signal to the haptic motors behind each trackpad with this single part removal. The haptic motors on the trackpads are not connectorized (unlike the motors in the grips), so this is the easiest way to disable them electrically.
While the above is obviously not terribly accessible and voids warranty, I do appreciate Valve being willing to provide instructions and illustrations regardless on how doing so would be possible for disabled gamers for whom that would be a barrier.
Any inputs you’re worried you might activate by accident (touch pads, analogue stick touch, back buttons, grip sensors) can be disabled in Steam’s software.
If using the Steam Controller within Steam’s ecosystem, there’s a number of other software level accessibility options available to players. While many of these settings are useful from an accessibility perspective, they’re also in theory available to players using other brands of controller if they allow those controllers to function with Steam’s input system. These are only exclusive to the Steam Controller in cases where they reference hardware unique to the controller.
Gyro on the controller can be mapped to function as an emulated mouse or joystick input.
Either touchpad can be set to function as a mouse or a joystick, with wide amounts of additional variation. Either trackpad can have its Up direction rotated up to 180 degrees clockwise or anticlockwise.
Either touchpad can also be programmed to act as a radial menu, or a touch menu / hotbar / scroll wheel. These options allow for a wide number of inputs to be mapped to a single touch sensitive region of the controller. In theory, for a turn-based game using ABXY and D-Pad directional inputs, all game inputs could be accessed from a single touch pad by touching points around a circle, seeing those selections represented on screen, and clicking the touch pad to confirm an input.
Button presses on the controller can be tweaked to function as a single regular press of a button, a double press, a long press, set to start or release a press, or a button chord (where the button will only activate if a different button is also held). You can also set buttons to activate a command made up of multiple inputs, set a button to activate repeatedly (turbo) if held, and to toggle on and off when pressed. These functions are not unique to this controller, but are supported on it.
Overall / Personal Accessibility Impressions
After my first three days with the Steam Controller, I’m decently happy with it from an accessibility perspective, compared to other first party controllers not designed primarily for accessibility.
While there are some aspects I would have loved to see out of the box not supported such as a screw thread for users needing to mount the device, I am pretty pleased with how open and communicative Valve has been about working toward fixes for accessibility barriers. The fact they’re making 3D print files available for their shell components in the near future, and were willing to provide warranty breaking modification instructions upon request to solve a very specific use case, does make me feel that Valve do want to make the effort needed to help make hardware modification of the controller possible, and support the custom controller modification scene’s accessibility efforts.
The packaging is relatively accessible for a non accessibility focused device, avoiding many of the cardinal sins of inaccessible packaging e.g. cable ties, tape, and hard to open packets.
While a lot of the software side accessibility support isn’t exclusive to this controller, the unique aspects of the controller do pair really well with Steam’s controller customisation tool suite. Being able to map a huge number of inputs to a single touchpad is great as a tool for facilitating one handed play, and does a lot to help with repositioning inaccessible inputs in other types of setup.
While the controller is a little heavier and larger than other comparable controllers, its sheer number of input options makes it feel more premium than its closest competition. For the additional cost compared to an Xbox Series or PS5 controller, you do get access to a lot more tools and options that open up unique avenues for creating accessible control schemes.
While this controller isn’t going to be necessary for everyone, I can see a lot of use cases it makes more accessible. Broadly it’s a well laid out standard controller with a good number of customisable inputs and custom options to map inputs to. It doesn’t have any of the obvious genre weaknesses of the Generation 1 Steam Controller, and retains all the benefits that made the original such an interesting prospect.
It’s convenient to charge with a magnetic breakaway to avoid accidental damage, features all the standard controller inputs most games need, as well as being uniquely useful for point and click adventure games, MMOs, shooters, and older games without solid controller support.
As someone who already owned an Xbox Series and PS5 controller, I wasn’t sure if I needed another controller in my life for PC gaming. Now it’s here, I can’t see myself defaulting to anything but the Steam controller when playing PC games on the sofa.
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