Hori just went live with pre-orders for their Horipad Wireless for Steam controller. This is being billed as as spiritual successor to the Steam Controller that is no longer being sold by Valve. The Horipad Wireless for Steam was already released in Japan as of October 2024, but it's now headed Stateside for release on December 16, 2024.
Priced at $59.99, this pad is compatible with Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs. The Horipad Wireless for Steam is designed for use with Steam, as you may expect, but is also recognized as a general XInput device in Windows for use outside of Steam. It includes three dedicated menu buttons that quickly access various Steam features. It also offers wireless connectivity to your PC and Steam Deck devices via Bluetooth. Battery life is estimated to clock in at around 12 hours.
On the back are two programmable buttons and additional function buttons. You can customize these buttons by way of a companion app. The app also allows for features such as turbo mode, adjustments to analog stick sensitivity, and button assignments. This is, of course, if you aren't just customizing everything within Steam. You also have access to gyro motion controls, which can also be customized.
The Horipad Wireless also includes capacitive touch thumbsticks. Anybody that has used a Meta VR device at any point probably has some idea what this means then. I'm not sure how capacitive touch thumbsticks could be used on a full controller like this though. Perhaps the capacitive touch can be mapped to things like left and right click actions as if you were using a mouse. Toggles to switch between analog and digital trigger activation are also included.
Sadly, this controller does not include features such as vibration, or a trackpad, or a headset jack.
Amazon only has the Midnight Black color up for pre-order today. In Japan, the controller also comes in Neon Yellow, Luminous Violet, and Shiny White color schemes.
