HORI Steam Controller releases in the USA in December

If you're after a tightly integrated Steam Controller, maybe the new Wireless HORIPAD for Steam might be for you. And good news, it's finally releasing in the USA.

Originally announced back in June it was previously only available in Japan. At least now it's coming to the USA on December 16, many more people will be able to order it. This makes it significantly easier for everyone else too, since importing will be simpler.

Quite a feature-filled controller with 4 extra buttons (2 on the front at the bottom, 2 on the back) to program to do whatever you want. Unlike a lot of other controllers (I'm talking about you 8bitdo), you can actually change the extra buttons via Steam Input too. It also has Capacitive Touch thumbsticks, gyro, and dedicated Steam function buttons.

HORI say it will give you about 12 hours of battery via Bluetooth, and can be used while plugged in and charging too. They claim full support of the Steam Deck, but curiously only say the wired mode via Xinput is for Windows 11/10 - likely they just haven't done any testing on desktop Linux.

There are some downsides however, including:

• No rumble.
• A built-in battery.
• No headset jack.

You can pre-order it on Amazon. Priced at $59.99. More on their website.

I'm a little torn. I don't need another controller, but I love tech, and it's a nice idea to have all the dedicated Steam buttons making it a great fit for my Steam Deck gaming when docked. Being able to actually have full support though of all the buttons directly via Steam is a big selling point for me. I've never really cared about rumble personally.