All-new Steam Controller now available – it's time to build your own Steam Machine

Steam Controller on turquoise background — (Image credit: Valve)

Quick Summary

The Steam Controller will be available from 4 May, long before the official Steam Machine arrives later this year.

It will work well with any PC running Steam (either through Windows or Linux).

As previously rumoured, Valve has opted to release its all-new Steam Controller early, with orders being accepted from Monday 4 May 2026.

Originally planned for launch alongside the new Steam Machine console, the controller costs $99 / £85 and is designed to perfectly complement the entire Steam PC game library.

The only setback is that the Steam Machine itself is still not available. The ongoing RAM crisis, which has also affected the availability and prices of storage, has proved difficult for Valve to navigate – not least because it wants its first in-house console to be affordable.

Article continues below

The company still plans to make its Steam Machine available this year, but there's currently no time frame. Until then, however, you could always build your own.

That's exactly what I did using a Geekom A7 Max Mini PC. Sporting a Ryzen 9 processor and Radeon 780M graphics, it isn't designed for gaming per se, but it runs pretty much my entire Steam library in 1080p, and with decent frame rates.

And with upscaling technologies activated in supported games, you can often eke out 60fps and higher without being restricted to low graphics settings. I even get Cyberpunk 2077 running at 1080p and around 40fps with medium settings. Even with ray-traced shadows, in fact.

I run the Linux system Bazzite on my build, but there are other forks of SteamOS you can install. You can even install SteamOS itself, if your Mini PC is AMD-powered. It takes a bit of tinkering, but there are plenty of guides on YouTube.

The only thing I've been missing is a dedicated controller. I currently use an 8BitDo Ultimate 2 (PC edition), which is great and comes with its own 2.4GHz wireless dongle and charging dock. However, it doesn't have touchpads, and that'll be where the official Steam Controller will come in for me.

The Steam Controller is designed to play not just action games using the thumbsticks and buttons, but the touch panels are essential if you want to play mouse-controlled games on your TV too.

I'm a sucker for real-time strategy (RTS) games, and this is therefore a literal game-changer. The likes of Football Manager 2026 will also be easier to control.

I don't even think the price is a barrier. While £85 sounds expensive for a controller, it's actually relatively cheap for a pro model. Just look at Sony's DualSense Edge at close to £200.

You also get so much more for your money, thanks to those panels, extra assignable buttons, an included Steam Controller Puck for wireless connectivity and charging, and even TMR thumbsticks for greater accuracy and immunity from stick drift.

Of course, I'm intrigued to see the actual Steam Machine when it finally arrives, but this will do nicely in the meantime.

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.