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Do we think the Steam Controller will sell out/be hard to get later? (lemmy.zip)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/steamdeck@sopuli.xyz
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I’m job searching right now and can’t really justify the Steam Controller purchase this week. Before getting laid off and RAM-pocalypse, the plan was to buy a Steam Machine and controller when it was going to release early 2026, but clearly that plan has changed a bit.

The FOMO is hitting after the previews this week! Do we think we need to worry about Steam Controller availability later in the year?

I use a DualSense Edge for my PS5, and either an old PS controller when docked or my 8BitDo SN30 when I travel for the Steam Deck. If I had the Steam Machine I’d buy it instantly, but who knows when that will happen and how much it’ll cost.

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[–] 2 points 6 months ago (10 children)

I'm certain it won't be a problem past a month. Primary input on PC is mouse and keyboard. The primary users for this gamepad will be steam machine owners. The controller for now requires steam. Some sunset of ~150 million people will buy this. I'd be surprised if this sold to even 10% in 5 years. It'll be competing with the likes of 8bitdo and others that while they may have less buttons, no trackpad, it's the amount of buttons devs design around. Steam controllers until they become overwhelmingly popular along with other controllers that mimic it, those rear buttons won't be essential for gamepad native games. Steam controllers have nice to haves rather than being the minimum needed. Vast majority of gamers would be served by a $30 8bitdo perfectly well for their uses

I'd expect the PlayStation and Xbox regular first party controllers and maybe even the premium first party consoles controllers to sell more than this and they don't seem to have supply problems. Those are essential to the console experience. Steam controller is not to PC gaming

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (6 children)

    15% of game sessions on steam are with a controller, that's like 10m people lmao

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    I don't play competitive games, and I prefer to play with a controller on my gaming computer. I'll be purchasing one on Monday! Just love the Steam Deck controllers, so why would I not purchase the controller itself?

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    I did not make an argument for why you would not make the purchase. I'm making the argument that it won't be scarce later in the year because gamepads for PC don't sell in the volumes like consoles. They're not used at volume as consoles. People will buy it. People that already have gamepads are less likely to buy it, but they may still buy it. I am addressing the OP who is asking opinions on likelihood of the controller being scarce later in the year

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

    what percentage of the 10 million people do you expect to buy a steam controller and how much would that compare to playstation, nintendo and xbox owners? That's 10 million steam gamers that already have gamepads to play on steam and the other 85% playing with I'm assuming mouse and keyboard. PS5 has sold ~100 million where each package in a gamepad plus all the additional that you see in stores and have been purchased. Do you believe this steam controller will be hard to find and why? It seems to me that the manufacturing of gamepads is not a struggle considering how many are available and that the steam controller has a release date already rather than the machine or frame

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago* (1 child)

    Mostly arguing that the "primary purchasers" would only be steam machine users.

    For my part, I have a deck and I'm really excited to get the steam controller as my elite 2 controller is already suffering stick drift and bumper issues.

    Edit: To clarify, I'll use it on my desktop, not with the deck ha

    Also I'll add the steam controller looks to be basically a premium controller for about half the price of most at that range.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (2 children)

    I don't know anyone who intends to buy a steam machine but I know a lot of people who intend to buy the steam controller. Now this is just my experience in my circles, but I wouldn't think it's a rare thing.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (1 child)

    I didn't say it would be a rare thing. The question is whether someone believes the steam controller will be hard to get later in the year as stated in the OPs post. I do not believe it will be hard to get

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago

    What I meant was that I think the initial enthusiasm towards the product will go way beyond the people considering getting a steam machine and wouldn't think it odd for there to be some "sold out, next batch arriving in x" moments

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