Steam Deck mod spruces up Valve’s boring back buttons

Valve’s Steam Deck has been a pretty big deal since it released in February. It’s not really hard to see why, given that it’s essentially a gaming PC that you can play on the move. And of course, because it’s a PC, the modding community is awash with those who are only too keen to give the device a bit of a makeover.

Showing off their Steam Deck mod, Reddit user Tengotengo8 has created custom back buttons, specifically the L2 and R2. A series of images shows the work they’ve put into taking the standard black buttons that the system has and turning them white.

Many would be forgiven for thinking it would just be a simple case of repainting the buttons, but that’s not what the user has done here. Instead, the modder uses a custom mould as well as a fast-curing polyurethane to craft entirely new triggers. The result is some pretty neat looking white L2 and R2 buttons, offering up something different to the standard ones.

When asked by another user, Tengotengo8 said they are planning to do something similar to all the buttons on the Steam Deck. There’s even been talk about them possibly looking to sell them. So, for anyone who’s a little bit bored of the black shoulder buttons, there may be an opportunity to get hold of some of these white ones without going through the hassle of making your own.

Several people have already taken the Valve device and tinkered with it to their heart’s content. Some Steam Deck users have swapped out the hard-drive for bigger ones, both in terms of storage capacity and physical size. It goes to show that the portable system is not exempt from the likes of the PC modding community.

It probably helps that Valve itself supports mods and third-party accessories like the best Steam Deck dock, as things like this really emphasise that it’s more than just a Switch competitor. On top of being able to hook up a mouse and keyboard, program your own games, or play games through emulators, modding is just one of the many ways that the Steam Deck fits more into PC gaming than handheld console.