“We want to manage expectations as much as we can.”
The Steam Controller officially launched just a couple of weeks ago on 4th May, but – outside of scalpers – you’d be hard pressed to find it in stock. Since the controller can only be purchased directly through Steam, it has created a bit of a bottleneck for Valve, and the company has now been forced to alter its reservation estimates in response to high demand.
Just three days after the Steam Controller went on sale, Valve implemented a reservations system that would place interested customers in a queue. For the last few weeks, they’ve been notified each time the controller comes back in stock, and it’s their turn in line. But Valve has now admitted demand for the peripheral has exceeded its expectations.
In a new blog post, Valve explained that while its reservation queue helped put customers at ease, it has now realised it simply won’t be able to make Steam Controllers quickly enough to satisfy demand.
“We have no plans to stop making Steam Controllers,” it wrote. “But as we look at the current demand compared to how many we know we can make by the end of the year, we want to manage expectations as much as we can with regards to when folks can expect to receive their order.”
To that end, the Steam Controller page will now give players a time frame as to when they can expect to receive their order email, which is itself based on when the reservation was made. As it stands, you’ll see one of three estimated windows: ‘By September 2026’, ‘By December 2026’, or ‘In 2027’. If you’ve already made your reservation, the page will now show one of these three order windows.
The bad news is that, if you haven’t reserved yours yet, you’re not likely to get a controller this year. According to Valve, the current estimate for orders placed today and going forward will likely land you in the 2027 window. These estimates will be updated the closer we get to each window, which is some consolation.
It’s easy to see why the Steam Controller, which costs £85/$99, has been popular. It emulates the experience of using a Steam Deck, essentially turning any PC into one. It also eliminates the need for a mouse to navigate certain portions of the UI, while offering a comfortable controller for sofa gaming – solving two problems at once.
In our Steam Controller impressions, Matt Wales wrote that despite its many ergonomic and feature triumphs, it still remains a niche product. “You’ll probably already know if there’s room in your gaming set-up for Valve’s latest effort, and if that’s you, it’s a rock-solid upgrade,” he wrote. “But for everyone else, at £85, it’s unlikely to be the best choice compared to traditional controllers.”
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