Valve has revealed new ordering requirements for the Steam Controller following last week’s launch, when it sold out in 30 minutes. Selling out of a product is normally a good thing, but when said product becomes available on marketplace commerce sites for roughly double or triple the price right after it’s apparent that the despicable act of scalping had more to do with sales rather than consumers purchasing it. One would also think that, given Valve’s experience with the launch of its Steam Deck, it would’ve already had processes in place to prevent or minimize scalping efforts, but it’s probable that the estimated demand for a game controller was low enough to fly under the radar. Despite all these things being what they are, the good news is that more inventory is on its way, and Valve has updated its order process to help consumers get their hands on the gaming controller.
“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. We plan to continue replenishing stock as we get more in, but in the meantime wanted to share changes we’re making to improve the purchase experience and to limit reseller activity”
– Valve
Valve has implemented a number of new rules and requirements to help ensure customers are able to place their orders. These new requirements resemble similar efforts used by other online retailers to prevent or at least minimize strategies often used by scalpers, such as bot ordering. From reservations to time-limited notification replies and order limiting, these new requirements ought to help.
Reservation details:
- Reservations will be limited to one Steam Controller per user.
- Once you receive an order email, you have three days (72 hours) to make your purchase on Steam.
- For now, customers who have already purchased a Steam Controller are not yet eligible to reserve another Steam Controller.
Additionally:
- Your account must be in good standing on Steam
- You must have made a purchase on Steam prior to April 27, 2026
New inventory is expected to begin arriving in North America and Europe next week, and these new ordering requirements are going into effect today. There’s still no word on the arrival of the Steam Machine or Steam Frame, but hopes are high that both will arrive soon and that Valve will retain these new processes when they do.