Valve includes an Easter egg in its Steam Controller: if the device is dropped in a particular way, it emits the “Wilhelm scream,” a well-known stock sound effect often used as a pop-culture reference. Digital Trends reports that some customers are deliberately dropping their controllers—particularly after purchases of the recently sold-out $99 device—to trigger the sound. Rock Paper Shotgun similarly describes the controller’s behavior as a playful joke, framing it as Valve “making it cry out” with the meme-like scream when it hits or is dropped correctly.
Both outlets portray the sound as intentional and tied to a specific action rather than an ongoing malfunction. Neither source indicates any broader technical issue or safety concern; the focus is on how the effect can be reproduced and shared online. Overall, the reporting centers on the Steam Controller’s added humor and the resulting user experimentation to hear the Wilhelm scream on demand.
