Valve has made quite a number of announcements over the past day including the launch of an official Steam controller for PC, a brief report on player stats on its Steam platform, and the roll out of a new game recording tool.
Steam Announces Official PC Controller Launching in Japan This Fall
No Announcements on Worldwide Availability of Wireless Horipad
Steam recently announced it is releasing a controller in collaboration with Hori, a Japanese company that makes and sells licensed video game peripherals. The new gamepad, "Wireless Horipad for Steam," is set to launch on October 31, 2024 in Japan.
The controller is designed specifically for PC, featuring menu buttons similar to those on the Steam Deck and includes touch sensors atop the sticks to enable gyro controls. It supports Bluetooth wireless and USB-C wired connections and boasts extensive customization through Hori’s software.
The Wireless Horipad for Steam will be available in four colors: midnight black, white, neon yellow, and violet, with a price tag of 7,890 yen (approximately $49.2). As of now, there are no announcements regarding its availability outside Japan.
Increasing Controller Usage on Steam
In related news, Valve reported on June 27 that there is a significant increase in controller usage on its platform. Since introducing controller support in 2018, the average daily use of controllers has tripled from around 5% to 15%. According to Valve, Xbox controllers are the most used pair with 59% of controller sessions, followed by PlayStation controllers at 26%, and Steam Decks making up 10%.
Steam Launches Background Gameplay Recording Feature in Beta
Meanwhile, Valve also introduced a new background gameplay recording and sharing feature, now available in beta as well as on the Steam Deck. The feature includes two recording modes: Background Recording, which continuously saves gameplay to a specified drive, and On-Demand Recording, which allows users to start and stop recording as desired. Users can set duration and storage limits and choose which audio channels to include in the recordings. Sharing options include exporting clips to MP4, sending them to the Steam mobile app, or creating a temporary link.
Additionally, a new Replay mode is accessible from the Steam Overlay and allows users to quickly review recent gameplay. "Useful for things like seeing what went wrong when your hero died," Valve noted, "or recalling something mentioned by an NPC earlier." The Steam Timeline also lets users add markers to note interesting moments for later review.
Source:
Hori Store
Valve report
Steam Game Recording beta
Steam is getting an official controller, but Valve isn’t making it
Steam's average controller use triples to 15 percent, with majority usage from Xbox controllers
