Everyone's now dropping their Steam Controller to hear it scream - just be careful you don't break the thing

Valve has sneaked in a smart easter egg with the Steam Controller, one that'll only be discovered by the clumsier people out there - or those who aren't afraid to chuck the controller about a bit.

VideoCardz flagged up a thread on Reddit where the original poster threw their controller onto a bed - and was surprised to hear it scream.

As Redditor RF3D19 observed: "If you drop the controller while in Steam Big Picture mode (on a pillow or a bed, we're not psychopaths here), it will occasionally play the Wilhelm scream with the haptic motors. Do whatever you want with this information, I just feel like I needed to share this asap."

As those replying point out, you don't need to be using Big Picture mode, the scream effect (hear it in the YouTube clip above) will play in any situation, as long as the Steam Controller is on, of course.

Although it won't repeat the scream too often - there's a waiting period of about a minute before the effect will play again when the controller is dropped.

You don't need to drop the controller on something soft like a duvet or cushion for the scream to happen, either, as it'll still be heard if the peripheral falls on a hard surface. Although it might be drowned out by your own cry of anguish at the prospect of the controller being damaged, of course - the only reason a soft landing is preferred is to ensure that nothing gets broken.

The last thing you want is a malfunctioning joystick after testing this, of course - or the screaming will become all too real.

As noted, the scream isn't produced by a hidden speaker, but seemingly via the haptic motors in the Steam Controller.

In case you were unsure about what a 'Wilhelm scream' is, it's a stock sound effect which has been used going back a long while, a generic scream that's present in a lot of TV shows and movies (sometimes in a tongue-in-cheek manner).