The Steam Controller no longer needs Steam to get the most from it

Valve’s Steam Controller features are now exposed through SDL, including touchpads, stick touch, and grip sensing.

Developers can access these inputs across Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows without Steam running in the background.

Support is still opt-in, so games and apps must add explicit handling to use the new controls.

The change expands controller compatibility beyond Steam and could improve support for older titles and non-Steam software.