April 29, 2026
Why aren’t there more PC-first gamepads? Valve don’t know, but they "did see an opportunity" for the new Steam Controller
When the new Steam Controller goes on sale on May 4th , it will go up against much more established gamepads in the Xbox Wireless Controller and PS5 DualSense vein – though none that share its singular focus on being a PC gaming controller, specifically. Why are there so few PC pads? It’s a question I put to Valve designer Lawrence Yang and engineer Steve Cardinali, who’ve also worked on the Steam D...
When the new Steam Controller goes on sale on May 4th , it will go up against much more established gamepads in the Xbox Wireless Controller and PS5 DualSense vein – though none that share its singular focus on being a PC gaming controller, specifically. Why are there so few PC pads? It’s a question I put to Valve designer Lawrence Yang and engineer Steve Cardinali, who’ve also worked on the Steam Deck , Steam Deck OLED , and the upcoming Steam Machine and Steam Frame VR hardware. And while theories were offered, the true reasoning for the peripheral industry’s console monogamy was, alas, left a mystery. Read more
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