Valve Steam Controller orders may not ship until 2027 as demand crushes supply

Valve has confirmed that anyone ordering its new Steam Controller now might be waiting until 2027 to get one. The company published a fresh update this week, splitting reservations into three estimated order windows: by September 2026, by December 2026, or simply "in 2027" with timing to be confirmed later.The $100 gamepad has been effectively sold out since it went on sale on May 4. Valve admitted at the time that the controller "ran out faster than we anticipated," and the supply crunch hasn't loosened since.

Demand is outpacing what Valve can build

The problem isn't interest, it's manufacturing. "We have no plans to stop making Steam Controller," Valve said in its update, but the company wants to "manage expectations" around delivery dates given how many it can realistically produce by year's end.

Which window you land in depends on the country you're ordering from, so plenty of buyers checking the Steam Controller page right now will just see 2027 staring back.You don't have to pay upfront to hold your place. Valve lets you reserve a spot in the queue for free, and it'll email you when your controller is ready. The catch: you get 72 hours to complete the purchase before the window closes, so dawdling could cost you your slot.

The delays land at an awkward moment. Valve is also promising to get its Steam Machine console and Steam Frame VR headset into homes this summer, the rest of the couch-PC-gaming setup it first teased for early 2026. Memory shortages rattling the wider tech industry have already pushed those timelines around, so 2027 may be optimistic.