Valve Updates Steam Controller With Better Aiming and Customization Options

Valve released an update for its Steam Controller today, which the company hopes will make playing games like real-time strategy and first-person shooter games easier.

The company added mouse regions where players can map a trackpad to a specific part of the screen, like the mini-map in a real-time strategy game. Players can also configure a trackpad with a new touch menu. The menu can hold up to 16 different hotkeys, supposedly making it easier to get into all of the menus you'd find in a role-playing game.

Valve has also taken community suggestions and shipped configurations to help users navigate their PCs outside of Steam, in addition to making it easier to understand what's going on in-game. A new HUD has been made available that allows players to see what input the Steam controller is generating--for example, if you tilt the controller to the left, it may be generating a press of the Q key on a keyboard.

Future updates have also been promised with the next Steam beta client. Controller support for non-Steam games like World of Warcraft will be supported. And linking your controller to your account in order to use your configurations wherever you go is on its way as well. No date was given for when the next beta client would be available.

Valve also highlighted some of the advancements made by its community. Taking advantage of the gyro input for more accurate camera control in games like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was shown, as well as a mouse-like joystick mode that allows players to aim with the right trackpad and "still enjoy mouse accuracy."

The Steam controller launched back in November and has since been customized to a number of different players' likings, including a son who wanted his disabled father to enjoy Skyrim. Valve released a video yesterday, showing how the Steam controller is made by Portal-themed robots.