Valve Teases Redesigned Steam Controller With D-Pad And Standard Buttons

Valve has been tinkering with a new design for its Steam Controller for some time, and there’s finally a prototype upon which to gaze. Valve posted some images of the new controller and noted that they’re currently building 10 of the units by hand that they’ll bring with them to GDC.

“These prototypes incorporate much of the testing feedback we have received so far and the changes that were announced at Steam Dev Days,” reads the post. “Even though our limited internal play testing has been going really well, we're excited to get some feedback from our customers on these latest changes.”

new Steam controller

old Steam Controller
Above: new controller; below: old controller

As you can see, the changes from the original are substantial. For starters, the touchscreen is gone, replaced by two small buttons flanking a glowing Steam logo. The thumb pads are the same, but the standard ABXY buttons have been moved from the area occupied by the former touchscreen and placed in a more standard configuration across from four directional buttons. Also note the L/R triggers on the front (or top, depending on your point of view) of the controller.

Valve is still gleaning feedback from users, so the design isn’t technically finalized.