A new Steam official controller is on the horizon, close to five years after Valve discontinued the Steam Controller, which was deemed a commercial failure when it made a commercial loss of over US$4 million. But this time, it won’t be from Valve, and instead, controller and arcade stick manufacturer Hori is taking up the gauntlet with the Wireless Horipad for Steam.
The controller brings over some features from the Steam Deck, with a matching button theme and touch sensors. Hori’s controller design resembles more traditional controllers unlike its predecessor, which had a trackpad instead of a joystick. The Horipad also has dedicated buttons to pull up the access menu or Big Picture Mode overlay, making navigation even more convenient.
Simply connect the controller over Bluetooth or a USB wire, and you’re good to go, and if you’re playing over a wired connection, the controller works with non-Steam games on Windows. All features can be customised with a desktop app, and the controller comes in four colours: neon yellow, purple, black or white.
Currently, the Horipad is only available in Japan, but it’s likely that it’ll retail in other markets soon enough. For now, it goes at ¥7,980 (S$67.32), and preorders are live on Hori’s website.
The Wireless Horipad for Steam launches in Japan on 31 October.
Trinity is a geek who enjoys watching anime, superhero and Sci-Fi movies and TV shows. She enjoys gaming (however has terrible gacha luck) and creates cool homebrew campaigns in her free time. She’s always up for a new adventure — with a cosy jacket and a good book in hand.
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