VALVE OPENS STEAM CONTROLLER RESERVATIONS MAY 8

The new Steam Controller sold out within hours of its Monday launch, with many buyers unable to complete purchases before stock depleted. Secondary market listings on eBay quickly appeared at significantly marked-up prices, far exceeding Valve's $99 retail price. The reservations system aims to prevent bots and resellers from dominating future sales. Rather than a traditional first-come, first-served approach, the queue will allow interested buyers to secure their place in line, reducing checkout bottlenecks that plagued the initial rollout. Valve has not specified production quantities for the second wave or provided a timeline for when reserved units will ship. The company also did not announce changes to purchase limits or other anti-scalping measures beyond the reservation queue itself. This marks the latest effort by major hardware makers to combat reseller manipulation, a persistent challenge during high-demand product launches.