Steam Controller leak points to $99 price, no audio jack, and no release date yet

$99 is the first concrete number, but it is still a leak

A review that briefly went live on April 25 put the next Steam Controller at $99. Valve has not announced the price itself, so the number still sits in leak territory. Even so, the post was specific enough to reset the conversation around the device from rumors to cost. For many PC players, the headline is simple: this is not a $59 callback to the original controller.

The leaked review also sketches the hardware tradeoffs

According to the review details summarized by VICE, the controller does not include an audio jack, the rechargeable battery is not easily swappable, and the shell uses a rough plastic texture that can feel slippery with dry hands. The same report says it connects to your PC through a wireless magnetic dongle that also charges it. The leaked feature list also says there are no customizable thumbsticks or hair triggers, which matters because $99 already pushes the device into the premium-controller bracket.

$99 lands below the true premium tier, but not by much

VICE compared the leaked Steam Controller price with other current pads: Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con at $99, PS5 DualSense Edge at $199, and Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 at $199 before discounts. That means Valve is not trying to undercut every high-end controller. It is trying to sit in the middle: meaningfully pricier than a standard pad, but still far below Sony and Microsoft's flagship upsell tier.

Reddit treated the price as the real reveal

The r/pcgaming thread sat at 2,537 points and 930 comments at crawl time. The strongest reaction was not disbelief that Valve is making new hardware. It was a debate over whether $99 is fair. One of the top comments argued that the number is in line with other first-party high-end controllers, while another focused on the quality of the D-pad. That split matters. The leaked feature set looks interesting, but the first public test for this controller is whether players see it as a premium tool or an overpriced successor to a device many bought for far less.

Source: VICE report · Reddit discussion