Steam Controllers Sold Out Quickly
Valve’s new Steam Controller model experienced a massive surge in demand as soon as it went on sale on May 4th. Priced at $99 on Steam, the controller sold out within minutes of its release due to overwhelming interest from gamers. While sales were originally scheduled to begin at 10:00 PT, the product was made available in access a few minutes early, leading to a frantic rush of users.
Steam Controller Stocks Depleted Quickly
The first wave of sales ran out of stock in about half an hour. Shortly afterward, the controller reappeared for purchase, but this is thought to be a small stock return resulting from incorrect payment verification or canceled orders. The product then reverted to “Out of stock,” with the purchase button replaced by an out-of-stock alert on the Steam store.
Some players encountered error messages on the payment screen due to high traffic. Some users saw a “transaction could not be completed due to high purchase demand” warning, while others encountered a message indicating that the item in their cart was out of stock. Despite this, some users on Reddit and social media reported being able to place orders by repeatedly refreshing the page or pressing the continue button on the payment screen.
This situation has brought Valve’s stock problems with its products back into the spotlight. Similar difficulties were experienced in the past with the Steam Deck due to high demand and parts supply. The rapid depletion of the new controller demonstrates both the high demand for the product and the fact that Valve’s initial stock was insufficient to meet the demand.
The rapid sale of the Steam Controller proves that the device generated strong anticipation, particularly among Steam Deck, PC, and Steam ecosystem users. However, for many players, the launch day once again became a frustrating stock war. It’s unclear when Valve will release new stock, but the fact that the first wave sold out so quickly suggests the controller will be a frequent topic of discussion in the coming period.
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