The new Steam Controller launched yesterday, and a lot of people rushed to buy it. It reportedly sold out in about 30 minutes, while in some regions it was gone in less than an hour depending on availability.
It went on sale at 10 AM PT on May 4 on the official Steam Store, priced at $99, but the huge demand caused problems almost immediately. A lot of users ran into site-wide issues, with errors during checkout and payment not going through. Valve’s servers clearly struggled to handle the traffic, leaving many people stuck trying again and again just to place an order.
Despite all these issues, some users still managed to complete their purchase after multiple attempts, but the first batch was gone very quickly. As expected, resellers showed up almost instantly. Within hours, the controller started appearing on sites like eBay for much higher prices. Listings range from about $200 to over $250, and in some extreme cases even up to $400—around three times the original $99 price. These are not even shipped units yet, but pre-orders, meaning resellers are basically selling their spot in line.
As for availability, there is still no official word from Valve on when the next restock will happen other than they will be coming soon. Some users noticed small amounts coming back in stock, but they sell out almost immediately again.
If you’re not very familiar with it, the Steam Controller is mainly designed for PC gaming, with features like customizable controls, dual trackpads for mouse-like input, motion controls, and improved thumbsticks for better accuracy. It also comes with a magnetic “puck” charging system that can be used as a wireless receiver. Even though it is priced higher than other controllers like the DualSense, these features help justify the price.
In related news, Valve explained that it launched the new Steam Controller first, and not alongside the Steam Machine, because the controller does not need RAM.
