Steam Controller is sold out in most regions, but Australia—you still have a chance (Update: Too late it's gone)

The Steam Controller on a desk during a teardown, with various parts removed. — (Image credit: Future)

Disclaimer

The Steam Controller is now sold out in Australia.

Pre-orders for the Steam Controller went live overnight and quickly sold out. Not only that, the rush briefly brought down Steam in its entirety. I didn't expect the demand to be that high, nor apparently did Valve.

Demand hasn't proven so high in Australia though, because it's very much still available down under. It'll ship in 6-10 business days—more than the usual 3-5 business days—which implies a bunch of people have bought it.

The lingering availability mirrors the Steam Deck situation in Australia. Whereas Valve's handheld devices have suffered long unavailability in most other regions, they've been consistently available in Australia.

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Does that mean we're buying them less down here? It's possible, though Valve's handheld did hit the market much later than in the northern hemisphere. The Steam Controller's availability could also have something to do with pre-orders launching in the dead of night in Australia: it may only be a matter of hours before they're gone.

Whatever the case, if you're an Australian and want a Steam Controller you're currently not at the mercy of scalpers, who are turning a tidy profit in regions where the device is sold out. It's still available for its normal price of AU$149.

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Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.