Despite Shipping Chaos: Why Valve Is (Almost) Getting Everything Right with the Steam Controller

Valve has released the Steam Controller, and not all fans are thrilled. But all in all, Valve is handling the situation well.

The Steam Controller was highly anticipated. Too hot. So hot that it was completely sold out after just 30 minutes.

This is, of course, frustrating for all gamers who could hardly wait to get their hands on Valve’s new hardware. Nevertheless, I believe that Valve is doing a lot right with the Steam Controller—even if it’s not perfect.

Transparency is key

Valve made a few mistakes with the Steam Controller. The website couldn’t handle the rush, and the stock of Steam Controllers was far too low.

Companies have several options in such a situation:

1. Ignorance: Keep your head down, say nothing, and wait until the next hot topic blows the storm over.
2. Denial and Reflection: Of course, the blame doesn’t lie with the company, but with everyone else: the scalpers (in this case), the internet provider, some nameless third-party companies, and so on.
3. Openness: You openly communicate your own mistakes and let customers and fans know what went wrong. This option, however, has two subcategories:

   1. Openness and Improvement: Open communication leads to actual adjustments to processes and systems that bring improvements in the future. We love this option.
   2. Openness and Deception: An apology is offered, but nothing changes. Not great.

How did Steam respond?On X, the manufacturer responded to the criticism and apologized for the situation. They also promise to provide more information about Steam Controller stock soon.

Since Valve is usually criticized for a lack of communication, I find this open approach quite commendable this time around.

Steam Controller ran out faster than we anticipated, and we hate that not everyone who wanted one was able to get it. We’re working on getting more in stock and will have an update on the expected timeline soon.

— Valve (@valvesoftware) May 5, 2026

So shortly after release, they were torn between options 3a and 3b, but the open communication alone is worth a lot.

And while I was writing this article, the next announcement came in thatValve is cracking down on scalpers and has introduced a queue system. So they’ve decided on option 3a—which is a reason for me to celebrate.

The controller case is now open-source

Steam has theCAD files for the Steam Controller releasedenabling fans to freely customize their controllers or create their own accessories for them.

This is by no means standard practice for such a large company. Others would sell only their own accessories to earn a few (million) extra bucks. Valve has opted for the community-friendly approach.

Awesome!

In addition, Lawrence Yang and Jeremy Slocum from Steam revealed to our author Linh that they also plan to release the files for the controller’s puck so that players can build their own docking station.

Now they just need to quickly source more Steam controllers and optimize their processes accordingly—which, admittedly, is much easier said than done, but there’s already a solution for that, complete with measures to “combat” scalpers:

After the Steam Controller fiasco: Valve is reportedly preparing a fair system for the Steam Machine

Valve isn’t flawless either

Please don’t get me wrong: Valve makes mistakes too and is rightly criticized for some things.

For example, the Steam Controller currently only works with Steam. Other platforms, such as the Epic Launcher, only work via a workaround.

So far, fans have had to take matters into their own hands and look for ways to use the controller on every platform.

In addition, the Steam Deck already faced similar difficulties at launch with supply shortages and an unreachable store. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence for the launch of the Steam Machine, but there is hope.

Is Valve learning for the future (and the Steam Machine)?

I hope Valve learns from the mistakes of the Steam Controller, especially regarding the Steam Machine.

At least: The issues with the website and the store should be fairly easy to resolve, since more computing power can be allocated to the relevant servers or even temporarily added via a cloud service—at least depending on the system.

As for inventory, things could get significantly more difficult. On the one hand, Valve can’t know how high the demand for the consoles will actually be. On the other hand, it would likely be too late at this point to organize more stock in time for the release.

Steam’s home console was originally scheduled to launch as early as the beginning of 2026, but Steam announced that the release would be delayed due to the memory crisis.So they’re already experiencing delivery issues with their initial batch, which have led to the delay.

In any case, I’m curious to see how they’ll handle the release and whether they’ve opted for Option 3a or 3b.

Were you upset about the low stock of Steam Controllers, and what do you think of how they handled the situation? Including the CAD release, Steam exclusivity, and the apology on X? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!