Steam Controller price leaked in accidental embargo slip-up

The price of Valve's new Steam Controller may have been accidentally leaked, with the device believed to cost $25 more than a PS5 controller at launch.

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The Steam Controller may cost $99.99 at launch, making it a more expensive peripheral and double that of Valve's original Steam Controller ($49.99) that was released over a decade ago.

The pricing was outed via a recent review from a tech YouTuber that accidentally broke Valve's embargo date, and while the review was ultimately taken down, users grabbed screenshots and recordings of the info before the review went offline.

"I'm seriously impressed with the Steam Controller, but it won't be for everyone. If you simply don't play games with a controller, well, this isn't going to convert you. Also, at $99, it's not cheap...but it's only $25 more than a PS5 controller and it can do so much more...and it's still half the price of most premium controllers," the YouTuber said in the now-removed video.

The price of Valve's new hardware trio has been a hot-button question for a while now, and it was believed that the company was withholding revealing prices until it got a better handle on production costs. The so-called RAMpocalypse is ongoing, with AI firms restricting supply by gobbling up critical chips like RAM and storage to feed their hungry server databanks.

It's possible that Valve may reveal the pricing for the Steam Machine, Index, and Controller sometime soon, following a bunch of reviews of the hardware.

The company has said publicly that it intends to ship all three devices throughout 2026, and speculation insists the Steam Machine may cost upwards of $699 or thereabouts due to its performance offering and component demands that are currently squeezing the market.

The Steam Controller seems to be competitively priced as a mid-grade niche peripheral that offers a bunch of flexibility and control, allowing users to experience the Steam UI and overall gameplay experience in a new way.

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