https://x.com/valvesoftware/status/2051695149026353424
“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.”
Yeah that sucked, I was at work and missed it.
Really should have just let people preorder to get ideas for day one demand. I expect after one major restock, the resale value tanks and things are normal in gamepad land again. I’m always annoyed with these companies not taking backorders. They did that with the Deck. It’s a controller sold by the company it’s from sold in its store that has already had backorders done for the Deck launch. This isn’t Nvidia and AIB partners. This is fully Valve controlled in a proven storefront. They could have handled this way better
I’m a bit miffed they didn’t handle the release better. Not sure what restrictions were in place but judging from eBay scalper screenshots it wasn’t much.
It was limited to two per purchase, but I could still add (and maybe buy) more after I bought my 2
If only there were two other console SKUs they sold in the past that would’ve better prepared them for this.
What I don’t understand is why they don’t just let everyone place orders regardless of current stock over a certain time window, then once the ordering window is closed, arrange for production to meet demand? Or at least do something like a first-come, first-serve waitlist after the initial stock sells out.
Sure, it would take significantly longer to go from order to delivery, but the customer experience would be so much better without having to deal with the mad scramble to try and get an order in the minute they open up. Letting people stake their claim even if stock hasn’t caught up yet would also deter scalpers.
Maybe there’s a good reason for this, but I don’t know what that could possibly be.
They don’t even know how to price it they have to reorder everything and cost it out, prices are fluctuating a lot right now throughout the supply chain.
Because market conditions are fucking insane right now. If they allow backorder and their production price doubles they would have to either honor the orders and take a huge loss, or refuse to honor the price and take a reputational hit.
$5 to get in queue. Price adjusted as needed when order is available. Done.
This free-for-all system is bullshit and has been extra shitty for everything since 2020.
Why wouldn’t the scalpers just fill up the queue?
What’s the point of scalping if the supply is unlimited?
Supply is exactly as limited, in this scenario, as it is now. A queue does not cause valve to manufacture more.
A) You’ll have people selling their place in line, which means that those who can afford to take a large quantity of orders in advance can profit from the difference
B) It’s not exactly good PR to order something and having to wait a variable window of time for it to finally arive at your door (see almost all Bethesda merch incidents post Fallout NV)
C) Valve doesn’t operate like a dropshipper. There is no “white label” steam controller being made in china that they can slap their logo on and sell as soon as people order for it. They have to contract volume in advance, since it’s a bespoke product.
If only they limited it to 1 per steam account and made it only available to accounts that are sufficiently old.
You can buy counter strike and tf2 defunct trading platform accounts that are decades old for pennies on the dollar.
Dang, I didn’t know that. Just gets more complicated!
Maybe active accounts that are old lol
Look at this comment chain is ideas that are good in theory
I’ve had friends who haven’t bought a game in a very long time and still plays games like it’s 2013 (wish I could do that). On the other hand I have a cousin who me and another cousin are tying to get into pc gaming, and thus has a very new account with practically no games, and might continue playing on his Xbox till he can a steam machine or decent pc
I for one would also love to stop scalpers and make a flag of their skin but that’s really hard when protections have to also not alienate any actual customers
One thing that comes to mind is that even if they get hit by a space rock tomorrow, your order is on it’s way. There’s guarantee it exists and is already destined for you. Seems fair and safe.
Seems like they are sacrificing revenue to guarantee they’ll be able to execute in the delivery. It’s not the highest bar, but it is a bar.
this reads like “more than a month” and i’m so bummed. i really want one :c
Don’t feed the scalpers people
But do offer them a carrot they can never quite reach but seems worth going out of their way for.
I want one, but I’m not sure I $100 want one.
Is the controller a limited run kind of thing or does valve intend to continue selling them indefinetly?
Indefinitely.
Thanks!
PSA: don’t buy any from eBay. fuck scalpers.
if you don’t buy it they won’t sell it. if they don’t sell it, they won’t buy more.
Should report them on eBay too. Force eBay to stop allowing this behavior!
Technically, if they don’t list it as a “Pre-sale” or “Pre-order”, they can be reported. See here.
REPORT scalpers on ebay.
Please Valve, get the fuck off X.
And at the very least, they shouldn’t be paying the fascists running it $2,000 a year to be there.
There’s a decent chance an account as big as Valve gets the “premium business” bullshit for free. Not sure if there’s a way to tell but it’s definitely possible.
Convince the user base to switch platforms first, and the companies will follow.
Every time they make a news announcement on a different platform, just make a tweet that says “Hey, Valve news update here: <link>. BTW, fuck Elon”
Easier said than done but they’d hardly be the first.
They should diversify where they post and help guide people to those other platforms, but just leaving X altogether wouldn’t accomplish anything. They need to talk to the people where they are
Valve dont need to be on X lol, anything they post in an official manner on any site, will be immediately shared by news outlets anyway.
Same goes for any large company.
That’s nonsense, if they post on their own website a thousand twitter accounts would screenshot and reshare.
Well said. Valve is a business, and X is where you post if you actually want a massive number of eyes on your content. The only real alternative is facebook and maybe tictok.
they are on bluesky fwiw
They need to be on Mastodon specifically.
Really any activitypub compatible service. Honestly for a big company like that I dislike mastodon, bluesky, anything twitter adjacent, because then responses become a linear “stream of consciousness”of people responding and it’s hard to filter the signal from the noise. Honestly I’d prefer a value community on lemmy somewhere that they run
Kinda reminds me of a poster I saw today advertising a communist group and an anti-billionaire rally. Had a QR code to follow them on Instagram and X. 🙄
Reminds me of a local pro-privacy group I came across a while back, whose only public online presence was a Facebook group.
Like I get it from a “reach” standpoint, and I think it’s fine if you’re following a POSSE system, but I feel a lot of people don’t do that.
Extinction Rebellion primarily used WhatsApp as their communication method. I always knew those guys were a bit of a joke but their opsec is utterly useless.
They’re a big enough name to make it work too.
Hell, Skip the baby step of Bluesky and get em a Mastodon account.
At this point, I’m not really even going to bother. I’ll just wait another year or so until people get enough then snag one.
Scalpers are already selling it like double the MSRP.
Did they not limit pre-orders to people with existing steam accounts and one controller per account because that would have been an excellent idea and I assumed that they would have thought of that.
Anyway I have zero interest in the controller until the VR headset comes out.
They did it with the Deck, but apparently didn’t think the controller would garner the same reaction, somehow.
Meanwhile the flipping Deck is still out of stock.
It wouldn’t surprise me if it will stay out of stock until ram prices come down (if ever) :/
They could just open up a permenant preorder system for all of their hardware and avoid the bullshit to begin with.
As someone who waited 6 months for their Framework 13 pre-order batch to ship, let me tell you, there are drawbacks to that system as well!
I already waited a few years for a new Steam Controller, so what’s another half a year?
Yeah, I mean, at this point valve has proved to be trustworthy. I wouldn’t mind placing a pre-order or backorder with them.
Plus hardware preorders actually still make sense because it can’t just be digitally copied and a key generated without anyone even needing to press a button. Which was also the case for games at one point.
How the did it with the steam deck was nice. It wasn’t a pre-order in the usual sense, since you didn’t pay anywhere close to full price. Just a refundable $5 that would go towards the cost of purchase when you bought it.
I don’t mind that for hardware, since it cuts out scalpers and doesn’t obligate you to purchase something before you know the quality.
That’s 100% the way to do it. Wonder why they aren’t doing that again. Maybe they’ll open it up.
