Check your inbox: Steam Controller reservations are coming through
Not everyone got an email, but if you did, you'll have to act fast.
Steam Controllers are the new hotness in hardware, but actually getting your hands on one is easier said than done. Before it launched, Valve said it had "knobs" at the ready to get pads in hands as soon as possible, but the controllers sold out in barely a day, leaving plenty of folks waiting in line for a restock. I think we are finally seeing the fruit of Valve's knobs, though: according to players on social media, reservation emails are coming through.
"ITS HAPPENING EVERYONE, STAY CALM!" reads a Reddit thread from SideOfBurgers, who shared a screenshot of an email from Valve that gives them until May 18 to buy the controller, or forfeit their reservation.
If you made a reservation, check your email to see if your number has come up. If you haven't made a reservation yet, you'll have to get in line.
It's apparently first come, first serve, but players are reporting all sorts of things on social media. User SideOfBurgers wrote the aforementioned thread, "I reserved my controller as soon as the clock went from 9:58 to 9:59. The reservation email says 9:59. Not sure how they are sending the order emails out and what order. Some people who ordered within seconds before me haven’t gotten any emails."
"I reserved right at May 8, 9:59 a.m. PST and did not get the email," replied Reddit user Shindigira. In another thread, user Alone-Horse2857 wrote, "Literally 40 seconds BEFORE the first seconds as stated by Valve and WHERE IS MY GODDAMN EMAIL GABEN!?"
"See you next year, we are cooked," wrote user CaptainHppo. Naturally, there are all sorts of kinks that could be responsible for a particular user's problem—inbox filters, shipping problems, problems on Valve's end, and so on.
In short, I can't promise you that you'll have an exciting email waiting for you even if you reserved a controller the moment it became possible. But I'd check if I were you, because when you are selected, you'll only have a few days to act.
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Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...
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