Valve ran out of $5 Steam Controllers and is canceling orders

[midian182]

Facepalm: When Valve decided to put the Steam Controller out of its misery by discontinuing it last week, the price was cut to just $5 from the usual $50. But the company took more orders than it had stock, leaving some buyers to find their purchases had been canceled.

While the Steam Controller sold over 500,000 units in the first six months following release, it was never able to build on that initial success. PC gamers, it seems, prefer to use either a console controller or a mouse/keyboard combo, not a hybrid that attempts to combine the best of both. Valve tried to push its device as the perfect companion for a Steam Machine, but we know how those turned out.

No, no it isn't

Unsurprisingly, Valve decided to call time on the Steam Controller and has made the last batch. To get rid of the stock, a 90 percent discount was applied in the recent Steam Autumn Sale. It might not be the best controller, but $5 is a steal, which led to plenty of orders—too many, in fact.

VG24 writes that there are multiple reports on Reddit and the Resetera forums of Steam Controller orders being canceled. Some people received refunds even after the controllers had supposedly shipped.

A Steam support message confirmed what had gone wrong: “During our recent sale, we mistakenly took more orders for the Steam Controller than we were able to fulfil,” it read. “As we are no longer producing this product, we are unable to send you a Steam Controller and have refunded your purchase.”

If you ordered a Steam Controller and haven’t received it yet, better check it hasn’t been canceled.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/83024-valve-ran-out-5-steam-controllers-canceling-orders.html

 

[Sir Alex Ice]

It was never possible to order it, at least for me. I added it in the cart sometime last week and it was already impossible to place the order as it was sold out.

Why they kept the offer active in the 1st page of their store, that is beyond me.

 

[fluffydestroyer]

I'm pretty sure thats against the law. When an order has been done and submitted, they (Steam) are bound to the contract. That could constitute a breach of contract on their part.

 

[Shaun2312]

I managed to get it ordered, the following day was refunded and had an email to say it had been cancelled

 

[APINKaCHU]

I'm pretty sure thats against the law. When an order has been done and submitted, they (Steam) are bound to the contract. That could constitute a breach of contract on their part.

Maybe in fine print but lots of places will cancel orders when they run out of stock. In this case there is none left and that batch was the last of production. I’m sure most stores state they have the right to cancel your order if they can’t provide the product in their agreement clause when you sign up for an account.

 

[SG736F6]

I'm pretty sure thats against the law. When an order has been done and submitted, they (Steam) are bound to the contract. That could constitute a breach of contract on their part.

The moment you made the order you are also (likely) agreeing to some fine print that they can cancel the transaction for any reason. That'd be my guess.

 

[Waikano]

I ended up ordering 4....Day 1 I ordered 3, but because of their ordering form could only order one at a time. By the time I got to the 4th order was told I had to wait, because I was making too many orders too fast (This has happened to me before during Steam Sales...) Day 2 I ordered the 4th controller....Currently I have emails confirming 1 was canceled and 2 were shipped....waiting on the update from the First Order...LOL. My kids were like..."DAD, GABE NEWELL'S NIPPLES ARE ON SALE!!!" Thought they would be great stocking stuffers for our gaming family...we'll see how it all works out.

 

[Frorehammer]

The Steam controller is in my top 5 controllers of all time for sure. I guess I'm in the minority in that or am one of few occasional PC gamers that see it's versatility. I started playing FFXIV on it when it when the controller first came out around the same time the.. much less reliable and defunct Steam Link came out(desync issues up the wazoo, router tinkerings and hours of settings adjustments adding to the issues). I'm much more happy with the controller, especially giving it desktop functionality letting me use it as a wireless mouse hooked up to the TV on the couch. (I ended up putting my desktop PC behind my HDTV since steam link was an absolute bust).

Mapping most games to gamepad but substituting the right pad to mouse feels fantastic. The community recommended configurations make most games a breeze to jump into in a matter of seconds. The feedback you get from the right pad even though set up more like a trackball is surprisingly accurate, but, I'm also not intimidated by people who use keyboard and mouse even if the common (mis)conception is they are more accurate and skilled. Hope Steam continues to support it one way or another via software updates.

 

[Evernessince]

I'm pretty sure thats against the law. When an order has been done and submitted, they (Steam) are bound to the contract. That could constitute a breach of contract on their part.

It's not. Any customer or business may cancel an order if proper reason is given and notice of cancellation is provided before a product has been shipped. Can you imagine if it was illegal to cancel an order? That's a complete waste of time and resources, there are tons of returns and cancellations every day. It's a normal part of the business online.

 

[Waikano]

...
The feedback you get from the right pad even though set up more like a trackball is surprisingly accurate, but, I'm also not intimidated by people who use keyboard and mouse even if the common (mis)conception is they are more accurate and skilled. Hope Steam continues to support it one way or another via software updates....

Not sure that's really a misconception....I think any player behind the Keyboard/Mouse has more precision than a controller (varying skill levels aside), but like you I like my Steam Controller and it plays just fine for me through Steam Link, but I wasn't an early adopter.

Microsoft killed cross-platform project because PC gamers wrecked console gamers

PC gamers have long mocked the use of handheld controllers as an input method for shooters and other genres that require fast, precise actions. Apparently, that attitude...

www.techspot.com

 

[Danny101]

Due to the response, maybe they'll be inspired to come out with another Steam controller less the console. Bet they wouldn't sell it at $5.00 again.

 

[iteration2]

I just received mine today. I didn't know it was being discontinued, but I guess I got lucky. No idea if I'll end up finding good uses for it, but for $12 (including shipping), it seemed worth a try.

 

[Waikano]

I ended up ordering 4....Day 1 I ordered 3, but because of their ordering form could only order one at a time. By the time I got to the 4th order was told I had to wait, because I was making too many orders too fast (This has happened to me before during Steam Sales...) Day 2 I ordered the 4th controller....Currently I have emails confirming 1 was canceled and 2 were shipped....waiting on the update from the First Order...LOL. My kids were like..."DAD, GABE NEWELL'S NIPPLES ARE ON SALE!!!" Thought they would be great stocking stuffers for our gaming family...we'll see how it all works out.

So of the 4 orders I made, one was cancelled and 2 have been received, the other one arrived today, although I'm not home yet to verify it, I feel lucky to be able to have had most of my orders fulfilled....