While influencers and content creators have already had access to Valve’s new Steam Controller, today is when everyone else finally gets their chance. As of May 4, 2026, the Steam Controller officially goes on sale at 10 AM PDT / 1 PM EDT exclusively through Steam. It is priced at $100, and for now, Steam is the only place to get it. If you are really serious about getting one, I’d make sure your credit card is on file and read to go, or adding some funds to your Steam Wallet.
Now that you know when it goes on sale, where to buy it, and how much it costs, the real question is whether you should actually get one. I’m sure you’ve seen the hype, watched the reviews, or read impressions from people who already have the controller in hand. Maybe all of that has you curious, but curiosity and dropping $100 on another controller are two very different things.
As a tech person and a gamer, this is where things get a little “indecisive” for me. When new hardware like this comes around and we get skipped over for early access, and no, I’m not mad, it puts me in a place of uncertainty. I’m a big PC gamer, and I absolutely want to see what Valve has done here, especially since I still own the original Steam Controller. But I’ll be honest, I’m not rich and sometimes FOMO kicks in and I ultimately regret half of my purchases.
That original controller was interesting, but I was never its biggest fan. It had its moments, and when it worked, it felt like Valve was trying to rethink how PC games could be played from the couch. At the same time, it was also awkward, weird, and not always something I wanted to reach for over a traditional controller.
One of my bigger frustrations with the new Steam Controller is that it forgoes X-input, meaning it won’t work natively outside of Steam, at least for now. Of course, that seems intentional, as this controller was clearly designed around Steam and Valve’s larger hardware plans. That includes the Steam Machine, which has seemingly been pushed back to who knows when thanks to RAM being difficult to purchase, and yes, we can probably thank our AI overlords and data centers for that.
Still, since most of my gaming already takes place inside Steam, I’d be lying if I said this really bothered me that much. There are very few times where I’m gaming on PC and not launching something through Steam. Still, while the lack of X-input is disappointing, I’d probably get over it faster than I want to admit. But if you are one of the few who refuse to use Steam, then getting the controller is going to be useless for you.
What bothers me a bit more is the $100 price tag. I get it, this is a new controller from Valve, and assuming it delivers the premium experience people are saying it does, maybe that price makes sense. But I’ve also been using premium controllers on PC for a while now, so maybe I’m a little jaded when another controller shows up asking for that kind of money, even if it does offer dual trackpads.
That’s why I’m not going into this completely sold, even if I’m definitely interested. I want to see how it feels, how well it works across the games I actually play, and whether it earns a place next to the other controllers I already use. The potential is there, but so are the questions.
Regardless, you can probably see why I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the new Steam Controller, even with those reservations. Assuming I can grab one before they sell out, which I fully expect could happen quickly, you can expect a full review from us in the upcoming weeks.
