Steam Controller leaked review points to $99 MSRP — more expensive than PS5 and Xbox controllers and Nintendo Joy-Cons

A hardware reviewer accidentally broke the embargo for the Steam Controller, revealing its $99 MSRP. The original video has since been taken down from YouTube, but one enthusiast was quick to record the video and share it on X via Streamable. The video is just about four minutes long, with the reviewer saying that the dual trackpads are the standout feature of this controller. They shared the Steam Controller’s price near the end of the video, saying, “It’s not cheap, but it’s only $25 more than a PS5 controller.”

Valve originally announced the Steam Controller in late 2025, alongside the new Steam Machine and Steam Frame VR headset. These were initially slated for an early 2026 launch, but the current chip crisis has forced the company to change the release date from “early 2026” to “first half of 2026” to “this year.” Some enthusiasts are losing hope that the living room PC console will actually arrive because of unreasonable memory prices pushing the cost for the Steam Machine to unreasonable levels. This is especially true as Valve says that it won’t subsidize the hardware, unlike other console makers such as Sony and Nintendo.