Valve releases the CAD files for the Steam Controller and its Puck, no doubt ushering in an era of unholy 3D printed creations

The new Steam Controller launched on May 4 and promptly sold out in about 30 minutes, bringing Steam to its knees in the process. There's already a lot to like about Valve's funky fresh gamepad, as our Jacob's Steam Controller review can attest, but the company is now offering what is no doubt the cherry on the cake for modders.

Valve has just released the CAD files for the external shell of the Steam Controller itself, and its rechargeable puck as well. So, if our Steam Controller teardown video left you hankering to get into the guts of the thing yourself, you've now got options for how you put it back together again.

Released under a Creative Commons license, the hardware mod squad can use the free files to 3D model and print their own take on the Steam Controller's "surface topology". Specifically, the files shared via GitLab have been released under a 'CC BY-NC-SA 4.0' license, which means you can share your creations so long as you do so under the same license, and with credit to Valve.

Typically, the main restriction of this type of Creative Commons license is that you can't sell your custom creations or otherwise make them with commercial uses in mind. However, Valve includes the following addendum at the top of the license.txt file: "If you are interested in creating a commercial product based on the Materials, please get in touch with Valve."

Historically, Valve has been surprisingly chill about allowing folks to sell remixed creations based on its properties. For instance, all the way back in 2017, Valve allowed fans to create and sell merchandise based on its games via 3D printing service Shapeways. Furthermore, unlike other massive gaming corporations I could name, it's not been aggressively litigious about its own IP, software or otherwise. In other words, if you have a commercial purpose in mind for your custom Steam Controller casing, Valve would probably quite like to hear about it.

Personally, I had been looking for some way to zhuzh up the Steam Controller's outer shell. Dbrand already offers a selection of skins for the gamepad, though I'm not particularly partial to any of these (not to mention the fact that the more premium options cost close to a quarter of the Steam Controller's price tag).

I'm much more intrigued by the Companion Cube-style housing Dbrand is already teasing for the Steam Machine. Not just because I've never lived down incinerating the Weighted Companion Cube in the original Portal, but also because it demonstrates what fun you can have with a custom shell design. Personally, I'm wondering if I can get my Steam Controller to look anything like that horrid Fisher-Price toy controller.

Mind you, it'll be a minute before I can get my mitts on my own Steam Controller. As of time of writing, the controllers are still out of stock on Steam (though a slew of Valve's funky fresh gamepad hit eBay at astronomical prices).

Valve shared on X this week that the "Steam Controller ran out faster than we anticipated, and we hate that not everyone who wanted one was able to get it. We’re working on getting more in stock and will have an update on expected timeline soon."