The Steam Controller might appear to be just the gamepad that is built to accompany the Steam Machine and augment the Steam Frame, but Valve's plans are a fair bit grander. After all, the Steam Controller will work with any PC, just like any PC gamepad will work on the Steam Machine, and it's a much-anticipated sequel for the small but passionate group that treasured the original Steam Controller.
It's Valve time. The Bellevue-based firm is making three hardware announcements today, including a new Steam Machine mini PC that it claims is more than six times as powerful as the Steam Deck, a revised Steam Controller with more mainstream appeal, and the Steam Frame, a new standalone VR headset that marks the debut of SteamOS on ARM mobile chips. All three are due to arrive in early 2026. 
Codename Deckard, Valve's long-rumoured standalone VR headset, is here. Despite being the subject of rumours for years, this is in many ways the most unconventional part of Valve's November hardware announcements, which also include the Steam Machine and Steam Controller, as it's an entirely new category for Valve. It also marks the debut of two key technologies, Foveated Streaming and SteamOS on ARM, allowing the headset to be a capable option both for streaming games rendered remotely and playing games directly on the Frame's Snapdragon chipset. 
Valve has made a trio of hardware announcements today, including a standalone VR headset with unique tech for streaming games called Frame, a revised and more mainstream Steam Controller, and even a revival of the old Steam Machine concept: a tiny gaming PC that brings your Steam game library to your living room. 
Tech companies tend to be pretty cagey when talking about how their design processes. What did the esports team you consulted with change about this mouse? What other materials did you consider for this speaker driver? Normally, these kinds of questions don't result in satisfying answers, but Valve's engineers are refreshingly open. The Steam Machine? Oh yeah, we chose a fan big enough to cool the components and worked backwards from there.
Former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé is "surprised" that Xbox has "not yet fully embraced" the newly released Switch 2, as part of a discussion on third-party support. Former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé is "surprised" that Xbox has "not yet fully embraced" the newly released Switch 2, as part of a discussion on third-party support. Former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé is "surprised" that Xbox has "not yet fully embraced" the newly released Switch 2, as part of a discussion on third-party support. Former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé is "surprised" that Xbox has "not yet fully embraced" the newly released Switch 2, as part of a discussion on third-party support. Former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé is "surprised" that Xbox has "not yet fully embraced" the newly released Switch 2, as part of a discussion on third-party support. Former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé is "surprised" that Xbox has "not yet fully embraced" the newly released Switch 2, as part of a discussion on third-party support. Former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé is "surprised" that Xbox has "not yet fully embraced" the newly released Switch 2, as part of a discussion on third-party support.
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The Steam Machine has been revealed, a new plug-and-play PC with SteamOS that's the latest push from Valve into the hardware space. It's also, Valve hopes, a game-changer when it comes to bringing some of the few remaining incompatible PC titles to Valve's platform.
Distribution for the newly announced Steam hardware will be the same as the Steam Deck, Valve has confirmed, though it's working on improvements.
Valve's new Steam hardware has been developed based on the team's experience of PC gaming, rather than comparing to other console makers like PlayStation or Xbox.
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