Steam Controller priced at $50/£40, pre-purchases available now

Steam Controller
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After nearly two years of waiting, Valve has finally lifted the curtain on the final version of the Steam Controller.

With one-to-one positioning, the controller can "virtualize familiar controls, like a trackball, a mouse, or a scroll wheel," providing a degree of precision that controllers generally aren't known for, according to Valve. The triggers are dual-stage, with a digital switch at the end of an analog pull, and there are also grip buttons, so your ring and pinkie fingers can get in on the fun too. Typing with the controller in Steam Big Picture has been made less of a hassle, says Valve, and control setups can be customized on a per-game basis.

We tried the new version at GDC 2015 and it certainly felt like an improvement over the prototype Evan tried last year. Some controllers will ship early in October, and it sounds like the rest will start going out sometime in November or December. "A limited quantity of orders will be shipped October 16th, weeks in advance of our official launch," Valve wrote. "Pre-order now and be among Steam Hardware’s first wave of users."

You can get a closer look at the Steam Controller on its store page, where pre-purchases are available for $50/£40 in the US and UK. They don't seem to be available for purchase through Steam in Canada or Australia yet. The Steam Link, a device for streaming games from your PC to your TV over your home network, is also on sale for the same price.

Steam Controller

Steam Controller

Steam Controller

Steam Controller

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Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.