Long-time peripheral brand Hori has just revealed its new Valve-licensed Steam controllers, which are available in four vibrant colors and come packed with useful features. There is a catch, however, as the Wireless Horipad for Steam is only slated to land in Japan, with no confirmation of whether its availability will extend to other parts of the world.
The original Steam Controller ended up being a bit of a misguided adventure, and it was far from the best PC controller available, with many PC gamers still defaulting to their Xbox alternatives. Now, Valve appears to be back in the controller game to some degree, with Hori creating this officially licensed gamepad.
The controller comes with a dedicated Steam button, similar to the one found on the Steam Deck, along with an entire Steam Mode setting, which is built to work well with games on the platform. Also taking inspiration from the Deck is the use of gyro touch thumbsticks.
Other features include four reprogrammable buttons, a feature that’s slowly becoming the new standard for controllers that aren’t bundled with a console. They also have a feature called rapid fire, which isn’t described in detail, but typically allows you to override the fire rate of weapons in games without actually making any changes to files, while making every weapon fully automatic.
Hori has also added a generic input mode, so the controller can be used with consoles like the Nintendo Switch. You can connect the controller via Bluetooth or using a USB cable, and there’s a mention of 2.4GHz on the website too, suggesting that a straight wireless connection option might be available.
The Wireless Horipad for Steam will be released in four colors on October 31, 2024, including Neon Yellow, Luminous Violet, Shiny White, and Midnight Black. The controller has an MSRP of ¥7980, which equates to around $50.
If you want a great PC controller that you can definitely pick up in the US and Europe, check out our Big Big Won Rainbow Pro 2 review, as this pad proves that you don’t need to buy from a big-name brand to get a reliable and responsive controller.