Gizmodo doesn’t make a habit of convincing our readers to drop their $100 devices from any height, but if you were to drop your new Steam Controller, at least you’d get a chuckle out of the noise it makes.
The cheeky engineers at Valve have imbued their Steam Controller with the ability to occasionally utter the classic movie “Wilhelm scream” if you drop it. This won’t happen 100% of the time, and it will only occur if you’re running your PC in Steam Big Picture Mode. But yes, it’s real. Just follow our lead.
You’ve certainly heard the Wilhelm scream if you ever watched the original Star Wars movies. The notorious yelp originates in the 1951 Florida Western film Distant Drums. The sound effect was recorded for a scene where one of the characters, Private Jessup, is bitten by an alligator. Lucasfilm sound designer Ben Burtt stuck it into many of the studio’s classic films, like Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s since become a staple sound effect in movies and beyond.
The Steam Controller has a built-in speaker that plays a chime when you turn it on or off. Evidently, Valve can add any sounds they want. Sony’s DualSense controller for PS5 also has a built-in speaker that plays special sound effects in some games. The speakers in both Valve’s and Sony’s controllers aren’t all that clear, though it’s likely only a matter of time before modders add their own custom sounds to the Steam Controller.
We’ll find out for ourselves if there are any other easter eggs in store for the upcoming Steam Machine console and Steam Frame VR headset. Based on Valve’s reported shipments of a “console” to the U.S., those devices may be upon us soon enough.
Just don’t start believing every Easter egg you see on the internet. Another video making the rounds on X proposes that if you sensually rub the Steam Controller’s trackpads, you’ll hear a soft moan. I’ve rubbed my controller plenty, and I’ve yet to hear it utter any whine or whimper. What you do with your controller in your own home, of course, is your prerogative.
