Overview
- Valve updated its reservation page on June 18–19 to show three estimated order windows: by September 2026, by December 2026, or sometime in 2027.
- The company warned that reservations made now will generally indicate a 2027 shipping window and said it will continue producing the controller.
- Customers in the queue are notified by email when their turn arrives and have 72 hours to complete the purchase or lose their place.
- Journalists note speculation that Valve might reserve stock for Steam Machine bundles, but Valve has not confirmed any bundling or withholding of controllers.
- The backlog is driven by far stronger-than-expected demand for the $99 controller and broader industry component shortages tied to rising silicon demand, which also delayed other Valve hardware plans.