Well, on the one hand… having more demand than you can actually fulfill is the kind of problem most busineses would like to have…
Assuming they’re actually moving a lot of units.
I mean… even if they’re not moving a lot of units, its still broadly a good problem to have -> considerably more people than you thought, want to buy the thing you sell.
So at bare minimum you’ve over delivered in terms of product design.
The extremely obvious capitalist response to that would be to raise prices on that thing. Win win, right? The extra profits go toward more capex to make more future production.
… But they haven’t done that.
They haven’t done that because they care about their image more than their profit margins on this particular product.
And/or because in the current environment… basically, the cost/reward on spending more capex isn’t worth the reputation hit.
The capex spending to meaningfully ramp up production would be so expensive, that it’d end up being a net loss, in terms of reputation damage.
… At least this is my semi-informed guess.
They are not. Sold out in 30 minutes. Lol.
You can sell out a loot of units in 30 minutes…
Bold of you to assume that you can’t sell out hundreds of thousands, if not millions of units in 30 minutes.
This man has never heard of bots
Well the bots got the lion’s share, for sure. They’ll get the machines and frames too.
And bots don’t have to pay for goods or what are you trying to say?
Or they are taking a loss on every deck, controller, sold and we don’t even have a price on the desktop.
Valve is taking a red bloody bath and slowing the bleeding.
Do you have any evidence to suggest that valve released a brand new controller and decided, what out of the goodness of their hearts, to sell it for a loss?
Businesses sell things for a loss all the time, it’s never out of the goodness of their hearts. It’s a strategy to gain market share or to sell other products for a higher margin. Every supermarket you’ve ever been to has products for sale at a loss. Doesn’t make it a good deal for the customer either, just an accounting reality.
So… no evidence?
Yes but valve already has a monopoly on the PC gaming market. Usually companies sell things at a loss to attract you to them so you buy other things while you get the good deal.
In valve’s case, we’re already in the store buying their games. There’s no reason for them to sell it at a loss, because it won’t attract people to steam.
Theres nobody out there saying “wow I would be a PC gamer playing on steam if I had a steam specific controller.”
Maybe that’s the case for the steam machines and steam frame coming up, but I kinda doubt it.
Yeah but this isn’t really the same as the Costco hot dog. It’s a product that’s more expensive than the alternatives (though they don’t have track pads) and steam is the defacto pc gaming software. Other massive companies can barely compete and have to do stuff like epic where they give games out for free (exactly the kind of tactic you’re talking about). My sarcastic comment about the kindness of their heart is because I personally can’t see another reason to do that. That’s why I asked for any evidence - an interview, a tweet from someone who would know, an article, anything other than a hunch.
sarcastic comment about the kindness of their heart is because I personally can’t see another reason to do that
Exactly you can’t personally see it so i explained it to you lol
As someone who works in retail, even our best sales at our store will still make us around a 10% profit. Our normal GP for items sits around 30% to 40%, so while it is less than that we almost never actually sell things for a real loss.
They could’ve sold it at twice the price I’d still would’ve bought one tho?
Why should they take a loss on the controller? There is no RAM or other parts affected by the price hikes in it. Also they announced the price only shortly before launch. Why should they have chosen a price that does not cover the costs? This does not make any sense.
Well, at least it’s an update. I was just about to post in here if anyone had received a purchase link from their reservation yet. I made mine on May 10th; maybe that means I’ll be in the “this year” batch.
Or maybe you’ll get the link tomorrow and it will ship alarmingly fast like mine! ¯\(ツ)/¯
Yup, I got mine on day one (spam that F5 ppl) and it was here on the second day, surprised me, pleasantly, they said a week.
I made my reservation in the first minutes when it was possible and clicked the buying link as soon as I got one sent. The controller was delivered 10 days ago. I am located in Germany.
I made my reservation request on May 8th at 11am, and I got my purchase invitation on June 15th at 9pm. Hope that helps.
I didn’t think to reserve it before the 12th. So mine says 2027. I just thought they’d meet demand.
I made my reservation on May 9th and it shows December.
same here.
You can now see the estimated delivery date on the Steam Controller page!
“December, 2026.” Well Merry Christmas to me, I guess! :p
I’m in the US. Reservations opened at 12pm May 8th, I queued up by 12:01, got my link to purchase last Thursday with the controller arriving a few days ago. Based on that and considering there were likely a lot of reservations placed over those two days, my gut says that you might be waiting a while, unfortunately.
I made the reservation right as they opened on May 8th. I got my invite link on June 11th, and it arrived at my door on Monday, June 15th.
“So behind”
They’re dealing with exorbitant demand during a time when tech and hardware prices are skyrocketing. They’re doing quite well given the circumstances, imo.
Oh they’re showing estimates now? Let’s check.
:(
I put my order in about 30 minutes after the reservation queue went live and I also show a September estimated date. I’m interested, when did you get your reservation in?
I don’t remember for sure, I think it was early afternoon that day?
Edit: Got the confirmation email from my reservation 1:10pm May 8th
Did everyone get a confirmation email?
I didn’t get any confirmation
Might want to check the status on the reservation page then
But yes you should’ve gotten an email
Could also maybe ask support to resend you the email if possible
That’s a good idea. I can do that. Thanks
Made my reservation just a bit after 1am on the 9th… :'(
Just “2027” for me. I was no slouch on reserving, either.
Edit: wait I’m an idiot, this says reserve now?! I definitely reserved!
Edit 2:
I did reserve, I got the chance to buy it 6 days ago, it expired 3 days ago, I never saw it. That sucks. Didn’t even get a push notification on the steam app. Just an email I missed.
Man this sucks. Not angry with Valve, it seems they far, FAR underestimated demand, but with the entire industry being on fire I also sort of understand. I’m a computer guy and when people want to buy hardware from me I spiral in to a dark place because it’s practically impossible and my prices are so huge they’d be insane to even speak to me again.
You and I are in the same boat.
If it helps. That is the “earliest estimate”
Pretty sure, every controller they have is going to go out with the Frame or the Machine from now til then. Need to justify the (almost guaranteed) $1000+ MSRP.
I was imagining they just didn’t want to give too specific of estimates, so before September just means anytime between now and September (with September being the latest possible time you could get it). I guess we will see though, I imagine they definitely want stock to be able to ship with Machines though, so maybe they will slow out the amount they send out.
i got the same estimate and i placed my reservation like an hour after they opened :c
Think of it like this,this estimates everyone buying it. It can only get better from this. I got dec. 26
What a curious way of saying this product is in very high demand, it’s almost like the publication wants to project failure and perhaps even ill-will onto the vendor. Veeeeery interesting. Anyone seen Mr. Sweeney lately by the way?
They just take old Switch articles and swap out the names.
It’s The Verge, what were you expecting?
heh, fair. I guess I’m just rageing against the standard, and the fact that people both tolerate and spread the clealry disingenuous messaging around… It helps me maintain the last frayed thread of sanity I can claim.
This worries me that this is foreshadowing the situation with the Steam Machine
I have no doubt it is with the way the prices have been with memory and gas for a while now at this point. Not necessarily Valve’s fault, but it’s gonna suck ass regardless.
I’m very happy I managed to snag one. For anyone waiting: it’ll be worth it.
I reserved on May 15th, and mine says 2027 ship date. “Some” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that title.
Seems valve really cocked up the launch if the first orders are going to take more than 6 months to fill.
They got the first shipment of manufactured controllers - one estimate is around 40k based on some import data - and sold them out in minutes, then started taking backorders.
My wife was supposed to get hers for Mother’s Day. Now she’s hoping Christmas? But even that’s iffy at this point.
“Your present is still being manufactured, please hold”
“Oh honey, I’ll cherish this “Estimated Time of Shipping : Next May” email close to my heart whenever I need to feel appreciated for being a mother.”
I hope she eventually enjoys it. I just wanted to make a joke of a shitty situation you ended up in.
I suspect that part of the problem is that they seem to have the steam machine bundled with the controller, or at least that seems to be an option. Presumably they’re keeping some controllers back so they can fulfil those orders.
yay got my notification today. Reserved on the 8th. Just leaving this here as some hope to the people that haven’t received anythng yet
It very much depends on where in the world you are. I reserved mine at 1am on the 9th, not long after they opened the reservations (because of the time difference, I’m in Sweden), and it says my estimate is in december this year… :(
i am in germany so i don’t think it should be much different for you. I don’t remember the exact time but the system said it was still on the 8th.
I can wait. There’s no rush
I’m actually baffled who buys all of these controllers? If you’re windows user you have a plethora of options in all price brackets. I wanted to buy steam controller because of Linux compatibility (Reverse engineered Xbox controller driver likes to shit itself from time to time)
Why everyone else just suddenly needs This new controller is just beyond me
The old steam controller was loved by many and has always been praised by its very enthusiastic user base. With Valve proving their worth as a hardware vendor to the masses via the steam deck, I’m not surprised the controller is as popular as it is. I hope you manage to get one!
I want something that works instead of PS5 Bluetooth that cuts off when I put it under my desk. It’s a first class controller designed for pc that just works. It also has other cool things like never dying.
I found that disabling my motherboard’s Bluetooth and using a dongle improved that situation dramatically. I suspect all the EMI plus a steel desktop case was a big contributor.
Oh also the ps5 controller speaker set as default was a horrendous and annoying experience lol
I did that and still wasnt great, but it was better at least.
I’ve experimented with Xbox controller on Bluetooth, and it wasn’t a good experience. I did some research and it looks like it’s because Microslop decided to ignore the bloetooh specs - controller doesn’t signal required bandwidth, so BT driver defaults to the lowest one. If you force driver to faster transmission rate, it will work better, but all other devices that support lowest speed only won’t work
Mine heats to crazy temps and I had to glue a copper radiator on to the microslop bluetooth thingy
It got two track pad, i can’t find the recommended one on this price range with two track pad.
Edit: i can’t buy it even if i wanted to.
If you’re windows user you have a plethora of options in all price brackets. I wanted to buy steam controller because of Linux compatibility (Reverse engineered Xbox controller driver likes to shit itself from time to time)
8bitdo and similar controllers work absolutely fine under Linux. No idea where your Linux compatibility thing comes from.
8bitdo
First time I hear about this company. I have no idea if they’re trust worth, and If they make a solid product that won’t break two months after warranty expires.
What? They’re probably the biggest 3rd party game controller vendor. They moved to hall effect before even the 1st party companies had those in their elite controllers.
Also, regular Xbox also work fine under Linux. The only thing that needs the reverse engineered community driver is that wireless dongle because it can pair multiple controllers. USB and Bluetooth are absolutely fine for pretty much every controller under Linux. The dongle 8bitdo uses is for a single controller, so it acts like a regular controller that was connected with a USB cable.
Maybe they’re known in US, but I never seen them in EU.
USB and Bluetooth are absolutely fine for pretty much every controller under Linux.
USB yes, Bluetooth no - BT has by design considerable input lag, and in case Xbox controller it was even worse.
Reverse engineered xone driver for dongle fails every few kernel updates. I know, I used it for like two years. After few months of not using the game pad you find that it doesn’t work, you need to install new version of the driver IF it’s available, if not you have to downgrade kernel. Fuck this experience. I want things to work out of the box.
Maybe they’re known in US, but I never seen them in EU.
Then you didn’t look properly: https://geizhals.de/8bitdo-ultimate-2c-wireless-controller-pc-android-v177372.html Gulikit is another very famous 3rd party controller brand. I think both source their sensors from the same manufacturer. They often have quite similar controllers.
Reverse engineered xone driver for dongle fails every few kernel updates.
So the dongle is the problem, not the controller. Use a USB cable for best latency. Works fine. Literally every other controller doesn’t have this problem, so specifically needing a Steam Controller because of Linux compatibility is nonsensical.
So if you want one with a dongle that works absolutely fine under Linux and costs only 29 Euro:
It’s a hyped-up piece of videogame hardware. I’m gonna guess half the sales were to scalpers planning to immediately resell at twice the price.
It’s hyped because of the touchpads. And hall effect sticks
That’s why I got it. Sold the dual shock, and Hoping to sell my Xbox controller too
Yeah it does seem nice, and I didn’t say it’s OVERhyped. Just saying scalpers are always a big part of stuff like this.
Yeah. They probably are a factor too
I’m lucky that my brother managed to get a steam controller, but realised he didn’t really need it, so instead of waiting until 2027, I got one of the first batches
There’s gonna be a lot of people selling their Xbox and other controllers though soon
Almost every third party controller these days uses Hall effect or TMR.
It’s hyped because it’s sTeAm and scalpers.
I sweat they do this limited inventory on purpose for the news coverage
There’s no other controllers with touchpad other than dualsense I could find. And dual sense didn’t work for me very well on steam
That’s why people want it. I looked extensibly… I’m used to gaming on keyboard or mouse so I figured I’m better on touchpad than sticks
And why would they need the press coverage into 2027? Id expect they’d prefer sales, where the money could be used for marketing.They already have products like steam frame which will generate media attention later this year
Welcome to my world, just substitute 99% of modern tech and that’s me!
I completely forgot about the reservation and only got it in 4 hours later. Estimated is December 2026.
“Behind”
100% what this actually means is valve is only making them in limited to supply to lengthening the time they take losses.
Valve ain’t making money on decks, they ain’t going to make money on the controllers, and they are going to take a bloody red bath on the machines.
Y’all need to read between the lines. It’s a controller. It ain’t hard to make.
They increased the price of the steam deck quite a bit. Doubt they’re not making money off of it.
You clearly haven’t watched the other billionaires run at losses for years.
Steam is very happy to lose money on consoles to keep their 30% cut and monopoly.
You’re forgetting that it’s just a computer, and can it can be reformatted, and you can install any OS on it to do anything with it. It’s not locked to the Steam Store in any way. It’s not like a console where they can sell it at a loss and make money on games later because console companies make it impossible for you to use it as a normal computer. Steam does not.
And yet someone who buys a steam branded computer is specifically highly likely to buy more games from steam. Yes, feel free to buy a cheaper computer with the same specs and never buy from steam ever. You’re not the target of this product.
It doesn’t matter who they’re “targeting”. If they sell it at a loss because it’s more powerful than it costs, people who don’t care at all about Steam will purchase it as a computer to run emulators or normal software. They are not going to do this.
That has nothing to do with my point. I’m saying that, given the current price (and age), of the steam deck, I doubt that they’re losing money on it.
I disagree. They already had thin margins, they started it themselves. Then prices went up and they sold at a loss. The recent increase was because they couldn’t take more of a bath. This excludes the tens of millions of dollars they have had to pump in you Linux.
I have no doubt until I see data otherwise they are breaking even at best.
What they “pumped” into linux (proton, actually) is a general investment for the future, not something that should be taken into account when discussing the Steam Deck hardware cost, specifically.
You’re also assuming that they hadn’t already purchased the steam deck components at a lower cost, before everything started to get more expensive. Once that inventory ran out, they increased the prices.
Basically you’re making up a relatively plausible but nevertheless imaginary scenario with 0 proof/sources.
Are they making loss with each sales? I’d imagine the $100 price point mean they earn quite a bit.
I doubt they are earning as much as you think.
They jam packed it full of shit that nobody needs like capacitive Joysticks, and capacitive touchpads on the bottom.
I…don’t know how much they earn, but they probably doesn’t sell this as loss.
I think people are forgetting that the steam machine is going to ship with a controller as well. I think they have to split their controller production between people buying just the controller and the amount of steam machines they are producing as they get ready to launch that.
