Plans for a simultaneous trio of hardware launches seemingly dashed on the rocks of ongoing RAM shortages, Valve have decided to release the relatively unaffected Steam Controller refresh without Steam Machine or Steam Frame backup. It’s out soon, too: the release date is confirmed for Monday, May 4th, with pricing set at £85 / $99 / €99.

Expensive? Maybe a little. A good gamepad? Yes, so says I in our Steam Controller review, which has also been freed from its own embargo limbo.

It’s not clear whether launching without the new Steam Machine, the soulmate status of which was apparent back in the earliest previews, will affect the Controller’s fortunes. It does, however, have just as strong a PC focus on Windows systems; I’ve been using it for about two weeks now and have fully adopted the habit of thumbing the trackpads to operate not just Steam, but other desktop apps that I might fancy opening or closing just before (or after) jumping into an actual game. Does that justify costing £35 more than an Xbox Wireless Controller? I’ll leave that between you and your bank balance, though will say the Steam Controller has proven comfortable and multifunctional enough to replace the even pricier Wolverine V3 Pro as my designated pad.

I’d also like to say the Controller’s launch likely heralds the incoming end of Steam Machine/Frame delays, though having spoken to Valve staff last week, that doesn’t sound like the case. More that the Steam Controller, which has no need of the variously stock-starved and/or painfully expensive memory and storage components that the Machine and Frame rely upon, happens to be ready now – even if the other two aren’t.

That said, further delays haven’t been confirmed either, so the Steam Controller’s black plastic cohorts are still planned for sometime in 2026. Valve also say they’ve amassed enough Controller stock for a solid launch, so hopefully come the 4th, it won’t instantly vanish behind waiting lists like the original Steam Deck did. In the meantime, we’ll be sharing the highlights of my chat with the hardware’s engineering and design team later this week, so stay tuned if you’re the kind of person who shivers at the sound of the phrase “tunnel magnetoresistance thumbsticks”.