{"id":1570080,"date":"2026-05-04T18:35:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T18:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mLkvLAu5TomJNYvocH9yug"},"modified":"2026-05-04T18:35:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T18:35:36","slug":"the-steam-controller-sold-out-in-30-minutes-utterly-breaking-steam-in-the-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-steam-controller-sold-out-in-30-minutes-utterly-breaking-steam-in-the-process\/","title":{"rendered":"The Steam Controller sold out in 30 minutes, utterly breaking Steam in the process"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Grass grows, birds fly, sun shines, and brother I hurt people,<\/del><\/a> a Valve hardware launch brought Steam to its knees. A half hour after launch, the Steam Controller has already sold out<\/a> after seriously borking the Steam Store. Fifteen minutes later? A sliver of hope as it showed fresh stock once more, only to immediately sell out again (if it wasn’t a mirage in the first place).<\/p>\n

Downdetector<\/a> shows a massive spike in error reports right around the 1 PM Eastern, 10 AM Pacific launch time of the Steam Controller, while anecdotally, the Steam Store was a minefield. I have the error message, “There seems to have been an error initializing or updating your transaction. Please wait a minute and try again or contact support for assistance<\/em>,” seared into my eyeballs at this point.<\/p>\n

The Steam Controller’s splashy page on Steam<\/a> initially showed a 3-5 business day wait before extending to 6-10. I was frantically refreshing the payment page on Steam during PC Gamer’s daily meeting right up until PCG news lead Andy Chalk gleefully told me my efforts were in vain.<\/p>\n

I think we all anticipated this would happen, given the early rush to secure Steam Decks<\/a> all the way back in 2022, but like everyone out there trying to bag a day one Steam Controller, I figured I was built different\u2014unspecified millions of people who successfully bought a controller clearly were<\/em> built different. <\/p>\n

It’s an incredible turnaround from the ignominious end of the original Steam Controller<\/a>, whose janky double-A battery goodness was going for an embarrassing $5 a pop by the end of its lifespan. Valve hardware is an event<\/em> now, even if it’s just a controller.<\/p>\n

The new Steam Controller was supposed to have some friends launching with it today, but the RAM crisis has clearly affected Valve’s hardware rollout<\/a>. The company has said it’s still planning on getting the Steam Frame and new Steam Machine out this year.<\/p>\n

Hardware writer Jacob Ridley enjoyed the Steam Controller as a great new all-rounder in his review<\/a>, but cautioned that it wasn’t a value champion compared to cheaper options from 8bitdo or Gamesir that still offer premium features like Hall Effect sticks.<\/p>\n

This is a developing story.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

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Best co-op games<\/strong><\/a>: Better together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grass grows, birds fly, sun shines, and brother I hurt people, a Valve hardware launch brought Steam to its knees. A half hour after launch, the Steam Controller has already sold out after seriously borking the Steam Store. Fifteen minutes later? A sliver of hope as it showed fresh stock once more, only to immediately sell out again (if it wasn’t a mirage in the first place). Downdetector shows a massive spike in error reports right around the 1 PM Eastern, 10 AM Pacific launch time of the Steam Controller, while anecdotally, the Steam Store was a minefield. I have the error message, “There seems to have been an error initializing or updating your transaction. Please wait a minute and try again or contact support…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1570081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[484,66],"class_list":["post-1570080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pc-gamer","tag-controllers","tag-hardware"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Steam Controller sold out in 30 minutes, utterly breaking Steam in the process | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Grass grows, birds fly, sun shines, and brother I hurt people, a Valve hardware launch brought Steam to its knees. 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