{"id":1924494,"date":"2026-05-08T09:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T06:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1924494"},"modified":"2026-05-08T09:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T06:28:17","slug":"valve-tackles-incredibly-frustrating-sold-out-steam-controller-shortage-with-new-reservation-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1924494","title":{"rendered":"Valve tackles &#8220;incredibly frustrating&#8221; sold-out Steam Controller shortage with new reservation system"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Valve tackles &#8220;incredibly frustrating&#8221; sold-out Steam Controller shortage with new reservation system<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Touching.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/steam-controller-header.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"A photo of Valve's new Steam Controller sitting on a wooden shelf next to a fern and a fearsome Lego pirate.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"steam-controller-header.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Eurogamer<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/robert-purchese\">Robert Purchese<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Associate Editor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-05-08T09:28:17+00:00\">May 8, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Couldn&#8217;t get hold of one of Valve&#8217;s pricey (\u00a385) but fancy new Steam Controllers before they sold out? There&#8217;s possibly a solution for you.<\/p>\n<p>Overnight, Valve announced a reservation programme for the Steam Controller, which will begin today, 8th May, at 10am Pacific Time (6pm UK time). This entitles you to essentially reserve your place in line to order a new Steam Controller when it comes back in stock. Note, there&#8217;s no word on when the Steam Controller will be back in stock, and &#8220;replenishment of inventory will vary from region to region&#8221;, <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/news\/group\/45479024\/view\/702141174212725149\">Valve noted in a Steam update post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=L9Pk1YDnQA0\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n<p>To stop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/valve-steam-controller-scalpers-ebay-sold-out\">scalpers reserving all of the Steam Controller stock and selling on eBay<\/a> at higher prices again, there are some fairly strict limitations associated with the reservation programme. (Limitations it would have been nice to have in the first place.) These are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One Steam Controller per user<\/li>\n<li>No eligibility for people who already bought a Steam Controller (through Steam, presumably)<\/li>\n<li>Three days or 72 hours to make your purchase on Steam once you receive the order email<\/li>\n<li>Having a Steam account in &#8220;good standing&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Having an account that bought something on Steam before 27th April 2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;Steam Controller launched on May 4th, and while we were happy to see such a high level of interest, the experience for a lot of you trying to buy it was incredibly frustrating,&#8221; Valve noted in its post. &#8220;We plan to continue replenishing stock as we get more in, but in the meantime wanted to share changes we&#8217;re making to improve the purchase experience and to limit reseller activity.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Beginning May 8th at 10am Pacific, we&#8217;re opening a reservation queue for Steam Controller. Once you reserve, your place in line will be saved. When we go back in stock, order emails will be sent in the same order that reservations were made.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Reservations will start being fulfilled next week in the US and Canada, and in &#8220;the following weeks&#8221; in the UK, Europe and Australia.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/steam-controller-review\">We spent a week testing Valve&#8217;s new Steam Controller<\/a> and declared it &#8220;better in almost every way&#8221; compared to the 2015 original Steam Controller. It&#8217;s now rechargeable, has more input options, has better sticks and buttons and generally a more sturdy design, and of course the iconic mouse-control-enabling touchpad controls return, though we weren&#8217;t entirely convinced by the new placement of these. &#8220;It&#8217;s a rock-solid upgrade,&#8221; Matt wrote. &#8220;But for everyone else, at \u00a385, it&#8217;s unlikely to be the best choice compared to traditional controllers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Couldn&#8217;t get hold of one of Valve&#8217;s pricey (\u00a385) but fancy new Steam Controllers before they sold out? There&#8217;s possibly a solution for you.<\/p>\n<p>Overnight, Valve announced a reservation programme for the Steam Controller, which will begin today, 8th May, at 10am Pacific Time (6pm UK time). This entitles you to essentially reserve your place in line to order a new Steam Controller when it comes back in stock. Note, there&#8217;s no word on when the Steam Controller will be back in stock, and &#8220;replenishment of inventory will vary from region to region&#8221;, <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/news\/group\/45479024\/view\/702141174212725149\">Valve noted in a Steam update post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=L9Pk1YDnQA0\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n<p>To stop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/valve-steam-controller-scalpers-ebay-sold-out\">scalpers reserving all of the Steam Controller stock and selling on eBay<\/a> at higher prices again, there are some fairly strict limitations associated with the reservation programme. (Limitations it would have been nice to have in the first place.) These are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One Steam Controller per user<\/li>\n<li>No eligibility for people who already bought a Steam Controller (through Steam, presumably)<\/li>\n<li>Three days or 72 hours to make your purchase on Steam once you receive the order email<\/li>\n<li>Having a Steam account in &#8220;good standing&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Having an account that bought something on Steam before 27th April 2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;Steam Controller launched on May 4th, and while we were happy to see such a high level of interest, the experience for a lot of you trying to buy it was incredibly frustrating,&#8221; Valve noted in its post. &#8220;We plan to continue replenishing stock as we get more in, but in the meantime wanted to share changes we&#8217;re making to improve the purchase experience and to limit reseller activity.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Beginning May 8th at 10am Pacific, we&#8217;re opening a reservation queue for Steam Controller. Once you reserve, your place in line will be saved. When we go back in stock, order emails will be sent in the same order that reservations were made.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Reservations will start being fulfilled next week in the US and Canada, and in &#8220;the following weeks&#8221; in the UK, Europe and Australia.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/steam-controller-review\">We spent a week testing Valve&#8217;s new Steam Controller<\/a> and declared it &#8220;better in almost every way&#8221; compared to the 2015 original Steam Controller. It&#8217;s now rechargeable, has more input options, has better sticks and buttons and generally a more sturdy design, and of course the iconic mouse-control-enabling touchpad controls return, though we weren&#8217;t entirely convinced by the new placement of these. &#8220;It&#8217;s a rock-solid upgrade,&#8221; Matt wrote. &#8220;But for everyone else, at \u00a385, it&#8217;s unlikely to be the best choice compared to traditional controllers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Valve tackles &#8220;incredibly frustrating&#8221; sold-out Steam Controller shortage with new reservation system Touching. Image credit: Eurogamer News by Robert Purchese Associate Editor Published on May 8, 2026 Couldn&#8217;t get hold of one of Valve&#8217;s pricey (\u00a385) but fancy new Steam Controllers before they sold out? There&#8217;s possibly a solution for you. Overnight, Valve [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1924494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1924494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924494\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1924494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1924494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1924494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}