Valve is working on a follow-up to its Steam Controller, its Steam Machine accessory first introduced almost a decade ago, according to a prominent leaker.
Brad āSadlyItsBradleyā Lynch wrote on X that Valveās second Steam Controller is known internally as āIbexā and is in mass production.
There werenāt any other details, including whether itās designed like the first Steam Controller or looks like controls on the Steam Deck, for example, although Lynch mentions in another post that heās seen some mockups. Lynch responded to another user who posted a mockup with traditional joysticks above two trackpads saying that itās āmuch closer than the other mockups Iāve seen so far.ā
Lynch also said that datamined SteamVR code seems to reveal a new VR controller called āRoyā thatāll go along with a long-rumored VR headset codenamed āDeckardā that weāve reported on previously. Valve filed a patent in 2022 for a standalone headset that doesnāt require a PC connection, improving on one of the Valve Indexās biggest flaws.
Thereās more information available about Roy from this leak, including that itāll have hand tracking, physical buttons like the typical ABXY inputs and grip buttons, and that āmostā of them will have ācapacitive touch features.ā There are also new details in the leak about Deckard. It appears to be adding both eye and face tracking similar to the Quest Pro.
Lynch has a history with high-profile hardware leaks, including one years ago for Metaās Project Cambria ā a high-end VR headset that turned out to be the Meta Quest Pro.
Valve has always had a larger presence in software than hardware, but has been experimenting over the years with products like the Steam Machine ā a series of mini PCs running on SteamOS that would let you play PC games on your TV. It was essentially dead on arrival because it needed multiple accessories to work and there were too many options on the market, but it paved the way for the Steam Deck, which has all but ushered in a new era of handheld gaming devices.
