Valve has announced that some Steam Controller buyers won’t be getting their orders until 2027. The company laid out its plans on meeting demand for the device, with three estimated delivery windows expected for the new Steam Controller.
After plenty of rumors, the Steam Controller reveal was an exciting one for PC gamers. The gamers who placed their reservations for the peripheral the earliest have been lucky, as many have already received the controller. However, the ongoing demand for the device has now led to a new announcement from Valve.
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Valve Announces Delay on Current and Future Steam Controller Orders
Valve shared an announcement on Steam Controller reservations, explaining that due to extreme demand, it wants to manage expectations regarding arrival. Valve notes that it intends to keep making the devices, but when comparing the demand to how many of the units it expects to be able to produce, the company expects that only some of the existing orders will ship in the second half of the year. Three order windows have been announced, of September 2026, December 2026, and in 2027, with no further details as to what part of the coming year. Those who have already placed a reservation can check the Steam Controller page to see which release window they’ve been slotted into. The earlier customers reserved the controller, the earlier a window they’ll be put into. Orders placed from June 18 onward are expected to arrive no earlier than 2027, and Valve will provide updates as it further narrows down the timeline.
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The second Steam Controller was announced a decade following the release of the original one, which was discontinued back in 2019. Unfortunately, the timing of the reveal, which was made alongside that of the new Steam Machine and the first Steam Frame VR headset, arguably couldn’t have come at much of a worse time. Demand for prior releases from Valve, like that of the Steam Deck, were also high. However, Valve currently has to deal with the crunch the entire game industry is feeling due to the proliferation of AI data centers, which require a huge supply of chips and processors to keep running. As a result, all kinds of gaming hardware have faced shortages and price increases, and Valve hasn’t been left unscathed by the trend.
While eager Steam Controller fans are likely disappointed to learn about this, they’re still the lucky ones when it comes to the new releases. The entire hardware line was expected to begin arriving in early 2026, but due to the aforementioned parts demand, the new Steam Machine and Steam Frame aren’t even accepting reservations or pre-orders yet. Valve has said that both the Steam Machine and Steam Frame will ship sometime in the summer of 2026, but that may be subject to change. The pricing on the devices is also yet to be confirmed by Valve officials, further worrying those who intended to purchase them as soon as possible.
Although fans may be tired of waiting, the good news is that Valve hasn’t announced any plans to completely cancel the releases of any of the three pieces of Steam hardware. For the moment, all gamers can do is wait to see when Valve announces further details. With any luck, the prices for the Steam Machine and Steam Frame aren’t too outrageous, given the high price for computing parts.
