Report: Valve Is Developing a New Steam Controller and a ‘Roy’ VR Controller

Valve has previously expressed interest in a successor to its classic Steam Controller, which featured customizable buttons and touchpads that paved the way for the Steam Deck handheld PC. Now, well-known Valve leaker Brad Lynch claims a Steam Controller 2 — codenamed “Ibex” — is on the verge of being produced.

According to his sources, the Steam Controller 2 is currently being prepped for mass production, and it appears that it’s not the only new Valve gamepad on the way.

Lynch has found references in Valve’s SteamVR code to a “Roy” controller designed for a standalone Valve VR headset, which some think could be the rumored “Deckard.” His sources say that Roy is now also heading into mass production.

The “Roy” controller may include enough buttons to work like a Steam Controller when it’s not being used for VR. Unlike the Valve Index controller, it will reportedly have a D-pad, bumpers like RB and LB on Xbox controllers, and a full set of ABXY buttons for regular gaming.

While no pictures of it exist yet, the leaker notes that most buttons also have capacitive touch features for tracking hand position. The controller may also have hand tracking and other advanced inputs, but those details are still limited.

Lynch says, “I am confident in this information based on data mining and sources who did not want to be named. There is also an unreleased OpenXR extension for these controllers.”

Valve has not confirmed any of this. The company is known for waiting until its products are almost finished before announcing them.

In other news, a recent documentary on Half-Life 2 revealed that Valve was nearly bankrupt before launching the game and Steam, but a summer intern played a key role in saving it.

More MP1st Reading:

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• Report: Sony in Talks to Acquire Kadokawa, Parent Company of Elden Ring Dev FromSoftware
• U.S. Senator Urges Valve to Tackle “Extremist and Hateful” Content on Steam

Thanks, TheVerge!

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