Valve’s upcoming Deckard headset may have given us a sneak peek through its ‘Roy’ controllers, unearthed from the SteamVR driver files. These files reveal intriguing details about their design and controls.
Earlier this month, Brad Lynch and his dedicated group of SteamVR dataminers—enthusiasts passionate about extended reality—came across Valve’s hints at the ‘Roy’ controllers. Buried in the code, they found that these controllers are reportedly equipped with bumpers and a D-pad, gearing them up to double as a gamepad for traditional flatscreen gaming.
Recently, this diligent group stumbled upon 3D renderings of the Roy controllers. These images laid bare the controllers’ layout, which confirmed the presence of bumpers and a D-pad. In addition, they featured thumbsticks, an array of buttons, index triggers, grip triggers, and system buttons.
The choice of the name ‘Roy’ is likely a nod to the character Roy Batty from the film Blade Runner. This would align neatly with the codename ‘Deckard’ for the headset, named after the film’s protagonist, Rick Deckard.
On Twitter, Brad Lynch shared a glimpse at the Roy controller’s evolution, showcasing its journey from prototype to what appears to be close to mass production. Initially, the design included rings, reminiscent of the original Oculus Quest controllers—a style seen first in a 2022 Valve patent.
These discoveries hint that Valve is inching closer to unveiling its next big headset, marking nearly six years since their Index launch. But what can we expect from Deckard?
The Roy controllers and a previous job listing from Valve suggest a headset with onboard camera computer vision tracking, making it more affordable by eliminating the need for external base stations. The addition of bumpers and a D-pad points towards a strong intent for supporting flatscreen Steam games on a virtual platform. Furthermore, hints from Valve last year and previous datamining emphasize wireless streaming capabilities for Steam content directly from your PC.
A question lingers: will Deckard position itself as a high-end product just like the Index, or will it contend directly with Meta’s Quest line through aggressive pricing? Interestingly, the Steam Link app already enables Quests to function as wireless SteamVR headsets. However, looking at Valve’s history with the Steam Deck, they don’t shy away from aggressively pricing their hardware when desired.
In a recent tweet by Brad Lynch, he offered a comparative look at render models of the Valve Index, Roy, and Meta Quest 3 controllers, providing more insight into how they match up against one another.
As Valve steadily works towards its next major reveal, we’ll be on the lookout for more updates from the vigilant SteamVR datamining community.
