Valve’s Steam Deck is supposed to start shipping in December. But if you were late to the pre-order party, you may have to brace for an even longer wait.
In the US, Valve’s website for Steam Deck is now saying the 512GB model of the product won’t ship until next year’s second or third quarter if you place a reservation now.
Meanwhile, the availability for the 256GB model and 64GB model has been pushed to Q2 2022.
The shifting product availability is likely a sign that demand for the handheld gaming PC has been massive. Pre-orders kicked off at 10am PST Friday morning through Valve’s website for Steam Deck, and the page immediately began to buckle.
At around 10:40am, we noticed the availability for all three Steam Deck models was listed as Q1 2022 — an indicator that the initial batch of pre-orders had sold out. Then, by noon, the availability for the 512GB model had been pushed to “Q2 2022.”
The order availability for the 512GB model then reached “Q3 2022” when we checked the site at 4:00pm. Fortunately, about twenty minutes later, the site reverted the availability back to Q2.
Valve didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But a user in Europe noticed the order availability for all three Steam Deck models was still listed as Q1 2022 when they visited the site on Friday. So the shipment times may depend on where you’re located.
It's also possible Valve’s website for Steam Deck is still trying to sort through the flood of orders. At the same time, the order availability on the site is an estimate, and the supply situation could change in the coming months. Nevertheless, the whole issue does make us wonder how many pre-orders will be fulfilled in December.
Three PCMag staffers did successfully place pre-orders for the Steam Deck on Friday morning before 10:15am. But so far, we haven’t received any emails from Valve confirming when the product will actually ship.
However, Valve’s website for Steam Deck does note the reservations will be fulfilled on a first come, first served basis. “When you submit a reservation, you will be put in a queue. Once inventory is available, you will be emailed in the order the reservations were made,” the site says.
“We are aiming to start sending order invitations by December 2021. We will make every effort to convert all reservations to orders but we are not able to guarantee availability,” the site adds.