Valve's short video on building the Steam Controller on a heavily automated assembly line, which the company designed itself. It shows the robotic manufacturing process and US final assembly.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN cites it as a glimpse of in-house, highly automated hardware manufacturing and the scale of a lights-off factory.
“worth watching the Valve Steam Controller Factory video to appreciate the scale of these lights off factories”HN comment, 2025
“worth watching the Valve Steam Controller Factory video to appreciate the scale of these lights off factories”
Shows scale of a lights-off controller factory
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Given they’re near Hangzhou they can source a lot of stock for 1/4-1/40th the price as the US. I would guess $1.5k-$2k for the hot mess they show at 6:06 and $8k for the polished setup plus $0-$850,000 in billable hours to some PLC engineers. The old school way to learn this field is an Allen Bradley or Siemens certification[1] but it’s pretty dry and tedious [2] with good money [3] because once you have a network you can show up at any factory or bottling line as they all use Siemens or Allen Bradley and they’re always breaking down. The new school way is AI, raspberry pi’s, and 3D printer tool chains. It’s worth watching the Valve Steam Controller Factory video to appreciate the scale of these lights off factories: this video [1] link [2] link [3] link
Cites itradiorentalMar 2016
“I know the controllers are assembled in the US[1]”
Shows steam controllers assembled in the US
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Not that it's much of hinderance these days but it will make the knock-offs easier and quicker to produce, and of a higher quality. I know the controllers are assembled in the US[1], don't know if the injection molding is too. [1] this video
Cites itortusduxJul 2021
“I wonder if they are going to produce this fully in house like the controller.”
Valve producing the controller in house
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I always felt their controller was a bit of a weird product. Turns out they were just dipping their toes in the water. I wonder if they are going to produce this fully in house like the controller. this video
Cites itsomatFeb 2026
“they did a slick video of the process with portal music.”
Valve's US final assembly process video
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Valve did final assembly for the steam controllers in the US. Not sure if that counts or not. It was shortly after the portal 2 launch and they did a slick video of the process with portal music. this video
