New Steam controller: Valve patent reveals next-gen PC gaming with controller customisation

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A patent from Valve, which was unearthed by the fan-made Valve News Network and shared on Twitter, has revealed the next generation of the controller for PC gaming through Steam.

The developers from Valve don't just run the Steam gaming launcher - they also released Half-Life: Alyxrecently and produced a high-end VR headset to go with it. And now this new controller has been revealed!

Read on to discover absolutely everything you need to know about this new Steam controller...

New Steam controller for 2020: specs include customisation options

As you can see in the patent embedded below, this new controller from Valve has a host of customisation options which will allow players to swap components like sticks and buttons to better suit their playstyle and game of choice.

"Described herein are, among other things, handheld controllers configured to detachably couple to different controls, as well as methods for use and/or assembling the handheld controllers," the official patent application says

It continues: "The handheld controllers described herein thus allow for the dynamic swapping of controls for changing the configuration of the controller to meet the needs of different applications (e.g., game titles), users, and the like."

New Steam controller for 2020: price is yet to be revealed

As you'd expect, since a patent is focused on the technical stuff, this stealthy announcement of the new Steam controller does not include a price reveal.

The previous version of the Steam controller, which didn't have the customisation options, retailed for around £39.99 according to Trusted Reviews.

You can probably expect the new price to match or increase upon that previous one, especially seeing as second-hand Steam controllers are currently going for a fair bit more than that RRP on Amazon.

Read more: How to back up your Steam library

The previous Steam controller looked nice, but it lacked the new one's features.
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The previous Steam controller looked nice, but it lacked the new one's features.

New Steam controller for 2020: release date unknown

Although the new Steam controller release date was not mentioned in the patent, we wouldn't be surprised to see it dropping by the end of the year.

This would give devout PC gamers something to enjoy while the PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles and controllers launch for everyone else.

The previous Steam controller launched in 2015 and the last remaining stock was shifted on the cheap last year, so it seems like the time is right for this customisation-heavy revamped version to arrive on the market.

Read more: How to easily improve your Steam layout