The Steam Controller was always a PC-first device, but an open-source project called OpenPuck just changed that. A community-built replacement dongle now lets Valve's trackpad-equipped gamepad connect to the PS5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, not just PCs and the Steam Machine.
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How a tiny $8 board breaks down platform walls
The stock Steam Controller ships with a proprietary wireless puck that pairs exclusively to PC or the Steam Machine. OpenPuck swaps that out with a Pro Micro NRF52840 board, an $8 microcontroller that runs custom firmware developed by Safijari. The firmware tells the board to emulate the original receiver's pairing behavior, then goes a step further by mimicking the signal profile of official wired controllers on other platforms. To the PS5, Xbox, or Switch, the Steam Controller shows up as a recognized wired gamepad.
The setup process is straightforward by modding standards. The board needs to enter DFU mode (Device Firmware Update) so it registers as a flash drive, at which point you drag the firmware onto it. Fresh boards handle this automatically. If yours doesn't, the project documentation covers which pins to bridge to force DFU mode manually. From there, a browser-based web interface at Safijari's GitHub Pages handles USB mode switching and input remapping, so there's no command-line work required.
What the Steam Controller actually brings to consoles
Here's the thing: the Steam Controller's dual trackpads are the whole reason this matters. Console players who have spent time with Starfield on PS5 (check out our Starfield PS5 guide for DualSense features and compatibility details) know that some PC-style games translate awkwardly to a standard thumbstick layout. The Steam Controller was designed specifically to bridge that gap, letting you navigate menus and aim with mouse-like precision from a couch.
Bringing that to the Switch is a particularly interesting angle. Games coming to Nintendo's hardware, like the confirmed Phasmophobia Switch 2 port, are exactly the kind of titles where trackpad controls could offer a meaningfully different experience compared to Joy-Con sticks.
The open-source side of the project
OpenPuck is fully open-source, and the community around it is already building on the foundation. A 3D-printable shell is available on Thingiverse to give the bare microcontroller board a more finished look. The project creator also published a short demonstration video walking through the installation process, which runs to just a few minutes from unboxing the board to having the Steam Controller recognized on a connected platform.
The cross-platform support currently covers PS5, Xbox, Switch, and PC. The firmware's input emulation works by presenting the controller as a wired HID device, which is how it sidesteps the authentication layers those consoles typically use to block unlicensed peripherals.
For anyone who picked up the new Steam Controller and wants to use it beyond their PC setup, this is a genuinely low-cost path to get there. The key here is that nothing about this requires soldering or advanced electronics knowledge. The $8 board, the web interface, and the printable shell make it accessible to anyone comfortable with basic file transfers.
Platform compatibility for games is its own separate conversation, of course. If you're planning sessions across multiple systems, our gaming guides hub has platform-specific coverage worth checking before you commit to a setup.
