After the near-instant sellout of the Steam Controller at launch on May 4, Valve has now introduced a new reservation system to handle high demand and stop scalpers.
In a post on its official website, Valve explained, “Beginning May 8th at 10 am Pacific, we’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.” In short, once you reserve, your place in line is saved. When stock is available, Valve will send you an email, and you’ll have 72 hours to complete the purchase. Reservations are limited to one controller per Steam account.
Valve is also adding strict rules to reduce reselling, requiring your Steam account to be in good standing and to have made at least one purchase before April 27. In addition, if you already bought a controller during the first launch, you won’t be able to reserve another one for now. This change comes after many resellers quickly started selling the Steam Controller on sites like eBay for double or even triple the $99 price.
Another thing worth mentioning is that shipping will not be the same everywhere. Orders will start first in the US and Canada during the week of May 11, while in the UK, Europe, and Australia, orders will begin later, in the following weeks, depending on when stock is available in each region.
For those who don’t know much about it, this new Steam Controller features several hardware upgrades, including magnetic TMR thumbsticks to reduce drift, improved haptics, over 35 hours of battery life, and a new Puck charging dock. These features help explain the high demand around it.
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. For more Valve related coverage, keep checking GameObserver.
