The Steam Controller is dead, long live the Steam Controller. Though its influence is still felt today through the Steam Deck's design and Valve's excellent gamepad support, a true successor to the owl-faced pad ain't walking through that door anytime soon. Cue YouTuber TommyB and his DIY "Steam Controller 2" for all your dual touchpad needs.
It's pretty simple: Squash the Steam Deck's controls into a pad, with the screen replaced with variously shaped, 3D printed connectors. You can also split it in half just like the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons. And thankfully, no Steam Decks were harmed in the making of this controller.
Probably the coolest, most unique part of this project is the bespoke trackpad TommyB designed himself, with a capacitive chip meant for R&D prototyping worked into a custom board that fits the Steam Deck's exact specifications. "I cannot buy trackpads for the Steam Deck, and even if I could, I don't know how it would interact with them, I don't know how they work," TommyB explained.
Otherwise, all the parts used were off the shelf or 3D printed:
- Extremerate Steam Deck OLED replacement shell, chopped to fit the build.
- 3D printed connectors for the two halves.
- Replacement buttons.
- Switches, sensors, and other internal gubbins from iFixit.
- Gulikit Hall Effect analogue sticks.
- An Adafruit dev board.
- Batteries for each half.
TommyB also coded his own firmware for the controller, which he has made available on GitHub for anyone looking to make their own Steam Controller 2. The result is a bit funky, but totally functional—not unlike the original Steam Controller. And I do gotta say, even premium, name brand controllers like the Xbox Elite can't boast Hall Effect sticks.
On the to-do list for future revisions is replacing that Adafruit dev board with a bespoke, cheaper solution, as well as dialing in the controller's ergonomics—different angles and combos of 3D printed connectors seem to have given TommyB some ideas in that department. I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for TommyB's Steam Controller 2, and if you are too, you can follow his channel on YouTube.
