Steam Deck pre-orders are already a mess

(Image credit: Valve)

Steam Deck pre-orders kicked off last week, and have already resulted in website crashes, order delays, and scalpers trying to ruin all the same another product launch for anybody.

Last week Valve appear the Steam Deck, a portable gaming PC that can run your entire Steam library of games, and began taking reservations on Friday morning. Inside a moment of the reservation system going alive, many eager customers received an error message equally thousands flocked to the website to endeavor and go a pre-social club.

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Valve is doing pre-orders a little scrap differently with the Steam Deck. Right now customers are actually only able to reserve a arrangement by placing a $five deposit. Closer to the device's release date, which is currently an unspecified date in December, customers will be invited to consummate their purchase in the guild in which reservations were originally fabricated. It's a slightly finicky system merely it'due south been designed primarily to deter scalpers.

Unfortunately, scalpers aren't so hands dissuade and resale sites like eBay have already been flooded with listings for the Steam Deck. The console's MSRP starts from $399 for a model with 64GB of eMMC storage and tops out at $649 for the 521GB SSD version, but resellers are attempting to flog pre-orders for every bit much as $one,500.

Steam Deck eBay listings — (Image credit: eBay)

Buying an in-need console through a reseller is a questionable decision at the best of times merely considering the unique Steam Deck reservation organization it'south baffling in this case.

No scalper as of however has a confirmed pre-order. Similar every legitimate customer, they have only put down a $5 eolith. Some listings on resale sites feature scalpers making completely unsubstantiated claims such as "will arrive in fourth dimension for the holidays," which they can't possibly guarantee yet.

In fact, getting hold of a Steam Deck earlier 2022 looks like it will be a very tall order. While the first wave of reservations offered the gamble to purchase a machine in Q4 2021, the Steam Deck reservation page now lists expected order availability every bit Q2 2022 for the 64GB and 256GB models. Whereas the top-tier 512GB isn't currently prepare to be available for new orders until Q3 2022.

Steam Deck pre-orders — (Image credit: Valve)

Demand for this portable gaming PC is clearly outstripping supply. The ongoing global semiconductor supply crisis and the greater interest in at-home amusement will likely both be a factor.

Anyone who was fortunate plenty to get a first moving ridge reservation should await to be sent an guild invitation in December. But anyone who missed the initial window getting hold of a Steam Deck earlier 2022 will likely require paying an extortionate fee to a scalper. The Steam Deck looks set up to join the PS5 and Xbox Series X as tech products that everyone wants but very few actually manage to purchase.

While getting your easily on a Steam Deck might be catchy, that might not be a bad thing. Considering Valve's spotty hardware tape information technology might be worth adopting a wait-and-see arroyo earlier committing to buy. Though at that place are already early signs that information technology could exist an impressive bit of kit, plus Valve has promised the system won't endure from stick-drift which is a huge relief.

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Rory is a staff writer at Tom's Guide based in the UK. He covers a broad range of topics including tech news, deals, gaming, streaming and more. When he'due south non writing hot takes on the latest gaming hardware and streaming shows, he tin can be plant watching a borderline unhealthy amount of movies and being thoroughly disappointed past his terrible football team.