The Steam Controller has launched and is already sold out, with Valve working to get more back in stock. One might think that a $99 controller wouldn’t sell quickly, but it didn’t stop a frantic buying period that saw Valve’s payment system crash during its launch. It only took 30 minutes for it to sell out, and the parasitic side of society, aka scalpers, began posting their latest plunders online for as much as three times over MSRP. Don’t worry, though, as Valve has already stated that it is working on getting more in stock, so if folks can get over FOMO and just wait a bit longer, they should be able to get a hold of one soon.
Steam Controller ran out faster than we anticipated, and we hate that not everyone who wanted one was able to get it. We’re working on getting more in stock and will have an update on expected timeline soon.
— Valve (@valvesoftware) May 5, 2026
Given the hype and media coverage for Valve’s latest family of gaming products, along with its experience in launching the Steam Deck, it is a bit surprising this launch went ahead as it did. One does wonder why Valve doesn’t consider the Steam Controller a high-demand product and didn’t set up a pre-order system as it did with the Steam Deck. Valve has yet to reveal how many units were sold, but it could likely be reconsidering the $99 MSRP. After all, with the bingo card nearly completely filled out, there are a plethora of reasons any company can raise prices on a product these days that would seem plausible.
Meanwhile, according to a report by The Verge, Valve has imported roughly 50 tons of product since the start of the month, which import records listed as “Game Consoles”. Now, before anyone gets too excited, this may or may not be the Steam Machine or Steam Frame. At the moment, some are optimistic it may be, but let’s not forget that Steam Deck inventory sold out months ago, and this could simply be a restock, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Discussion (6 replies)
Join Discussion →I think scalpers may eat this one.
I'm certainly hoping they do. It's not a product I have any interest in but I'm so sick of their crap.
This controller is not a graphics card, and it is not something that is affected by the DRAM or NAND shortage. So I don't see Valve having issues making and selling more. So yeah, I hope the scalpers eat a bag of dicks.
They may be eating it, ebay prices are all over the place, which I think may indicate something no too great for scalpers idk... Plus who the hell pays 200 plus for a 100 controller I mean dang.
I was already thinking it was overpriced at $100
To me $40 is a normal controller price. XBSX|S controller regularly go on sale for that price, as did the Xbox controllers from generations before. Nintendo were the first idiots to push standard controller pricing to $70 with the Switch Pro Controller (and cheapest I ever saw on sale was $60). Then Sony followed suit with the DualSense, and now Switch 2 Pro Controller and DualSense are pushing $80. Yyyeeeaaahhh y'allz can get f*cked. I do have Switch 1 Pro Controllers, but I got those as gifts. Never would have paid for them myself. I'd like to get a DualSense controller for playing Sony games on PC (I borrowed one when I played through games like R&C: Rift Apart), but until it hits a reasonable price that's not happening. So I stick with XBSX|S controller (and I still got older XB1 and X360 controllers lying around, all of which I mained before I got the XBSX|S controller). It's baffling to me that Switch Pro Controllers and DualSense controllers almost never see sales, and when they do, the sales are so pathetic that they can't even really be counted as sales.
Another thing I praise Microsoft for with their controllers: removable batteries, easily accessible battery compartment, and being able to supply your own batteries. Some of my Microsoft controllers even came with official Microsoft rechargeable batteries, but those things always crapped out (speaking about X360 and XB1 controllers). The rechargeable battery for my XB1 controller actually fell apart! Now I just use Panasonic Eneloop Pro rechargeable batteries. Those last a lot f*cking longer and work better. Plus they are normal AA batteries, not some weird proprietary shape.
Another thing I miss when it comes to modern wireless controllers is decent battery life. Long gone are the days of Nintendo WaveBird controllers lasting 100 hours on 2x AA batteries. Of course those things didn't have rumble or any of the fancy features today's controllers have, but gawd d4mn, controllers should be able to last longer than 20-40 hours or less! Also all my Nintendo controllers (Switch Pro controllers, joy-cons, Switch SNES controllers, Switch NES controllers) tend to lose a lot of battery life while in storage. If I fully charge a controller and then put it away and grab it again within 2 weeks, it's usually dead. Actually my DualShock 4s are kinda like that too. I think the Wii U Pro controllers are the most recent Nintendo controllers I have that actually have an okay-ish battery life.
Once your controller hits $60+ you've lost me. The only time I paid more for a controller was for my Neo-Geo MVS controllers for my Analogue Interactive C-MVS. Each one of those was $200 a piece. That sh1t nearly f*cking killed me. Although Analogue Interactive were some crazy bastards, building their controllers and the system case out of high-quality wood that was stained and polished. Talk about excessive. But yeah I already tried going the second-hand controller route for the MVS/AES. It's really hard to find good-quality properly-working used Neo-Geo controllers out there. That's why I just ended up bending over and paying Analogue for their brand-new controllers. That sh1t still haunts me though. My bank account is suffering like Frodo after he was stabbed at Weathertop - that wound will never fully heal. I bought those controllers in 2014 and I am still complaining, lawlz!