The creators of Steam have announced a new reservation system designed to limit speculation around their new controller.

Valve is just as fed up as most players with seeing speculators make a fortune from the Steam Controller. The controller launched on May 4 for $99 and sold out in just 30 minutes, immediately triggering a wave of listings on platforms such as eBay, where some users are asking for more than $200. The creators of Steam have been working ever since to ensure a sufficient flow of stock to meet the explosive initial demand for their new product, and with the next shipments, they also want to stop unscrupulous buyers from grabbing the peripheral solely to resell it at an absurd markup. That is why the company has announced a new reservation system specifically designed to curb speculation.

According to a statement published on Steam, Valve regrets that thousands of players were unable to purchase a Steam Controller after its May 4 launch. As a result, the teams will establish a pre-order queue so users can acquire the controller in a more organized way: “While we’re happy to see such a high level of interest in the Steam Controller, the experience many of you had trying to purchase it was incredibly frustrating”, the company founded by Gabe Newell acknowledged. “We plan to continue replenishing stock as we receive it, but in the meantime, we wanted to share some changes we’ll be making to improve the buying experience and limit resale activity.” Essentially, Valve will open a pre-order queue on May 8 at 7:00 PM Spanish Peninsula Time. When a player reserves the Steam Controller, the system will save their position in the queue, and as stock is replenished, emails will be sent in reservation order so users can complete their purchase. This option, however, will not be available to everyone, and will be limited to Steam accounts that meet certain conditions.

Valve’s Terms And Conditions For Pre-Ordering The Steam Controller

Valve is fully aware that its system is not perfect. Speculators can still use bots to secure places in the queue and reserve the Steam Controller without much difficulty. That is why the teams have introduced several limitations to ensure the controller is mainly sold to players who actually intend to use it for their games:

• Reservations are limited to one Steam Controller per user.
• Once the email granting access to the purchase is received, players will have three days, or 72 hours, to complete the acquisition.
• Users who have already bought a Steam Controller cannot reserve another one for now.
• The account used must be in good standing on Steam.
• The account must have made at least one purchase on Steam before April 27, 2026.

With this strategy, Valve aims to limit the mass purchase of Steam Controller units by speculators, and the same approach may also be applied in the future to Steam Frame and Steam Machine pre-orders. It is not a flawless system, and it is likely that more than one user will still reserve the controller only to resell it later at a much higher price than Valve originally set. Even so, many players will be glad they no longer have to wage a pointless reaction-speed war against bots just to get their hands on the company’s long-awaited controller.

Source: 3DJuegos