The Steam Controller release date could be imminent, according to a new shipping manifest leak. Publicly available import data shows a huge delivery of “WIRELESS PC CONTROLLER[s]” has just landed stateside, en route to Valve, hinting at a great many of the devices soon being ready to ship to customers.
With a total shipping weight of a massive 12,970kg (28,594lbs) and consisting of 40 packages, we don’t know just how many controllers are in this shipment, but given the typical weight of a controller is around 300g, you could be looking at in excess of 40,000 units. Of course, it’s possible that this Valve shipment isn’t in fact packed full of its latest attempt to top the best gaming controller guides of the world, but if I were a betting man, I know which way I’d go.
Interestingly, this shipment only shows one container having been used to transport all of these controllers. If ever there was a moment of insight into just how on a knife-edge some product launches can be, consider if that one container had taken a tumble into the ocean.
The country of origin for the shipment is listed as Taiwan, which does suggest the Steam Controller might have been manufactured there, but we can’t say definitively, as there could have been multiple shipment stages prior to this one.
Originally spotted by X user Brad Lynch, the import notification can be found here, though further details of the shipment are behind a paywall. However, Videocardz.com has obtained an image of these details, as shown below.
The Steam Controller is Valve’s second controller product to bear that name, with the company releasing its original Steam Controller just over ten years ago. That device innovated the touchpad controls partly seen on the new Steam Controller, which function essentially like a mouse touchpad, providing a convenient and precise way to imitate mouse input via a controller.
The original Steam Controller is estimated to have sold over 1.5 million units, but it was discontinued in 2019, and there was little sign of a follow-up. Until, that is, Valve announced the new Steam Controller, alongside the new Steam Frame VR headset and Steam Machine mini gaming PC.
The new Steam Controller switches from a single thumbstick design for the original Steam Controller to a dual-stick design, with them arranged in a symmetrical fashion, like a PlayStation controller. With the Xbox-style asymmetrical control so popular these days, it’s a bold decision, but it does allow Valve to add two of the smaller touchpads, where they’re accessible by your thumbs.
The new Steam Controller also includes both Bluetooth and USB wireless dongle connections, supports gyro input, and has “high definition rumble.”
Whatever the actual Steam Controller launch date ends up being, I can’t wait to get my hands on one, having missed out on ever trying the original.
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