The Steam Controller is Being Discontinued

If you happened to browse the main Steam Store very much during the significant Steam Autumn Sale that ended just a couple days ago, you might have noticed some particularly deep discounts on Valve-branded hardware in addition to the standard cornucopia of games on sale. More specifically, you may have been in the market for a Steam Controller, or Steam might have directly recommended one to you based on its price and/or the number of games you own that support it.

In either case, it appears I have some unfortunate news for you if you’re still looking to buy one but couldn’t snag it during the earlier portions of the Autumn Sale. In case you’re unaware, the Steam Controller was discounted to a mere $5 during the Autumn Sale as opposed to its much higher normal asking price. As you might expect in light of that, this huge discount prompted many people (myself included) to take the plunge and grab at least one while the sale was still active.

However, multiple sources have since reported that Valve apparently applied such a considerable discount to the Steam Controller in order to clear out its inventory so that the device could ultimately be discontinued. In light of this, multiple Steam users who attempted to take advantage of the sale have apparently claimed to have had their orders canceled and subsequently received unexpected refunds from Valve on their controller purchases.

According to a post in the “SteamController” subreddit, it appears that Valve issued an official statement to customers who attempted to purchase a Steam Controller after a certain date within the duration of the Autumn Sale. In this statement, Valve admits that they accepted more orders for the device than they were “able to fulfill,” in addition to explicitly stating that they are “no longer producing this product.”

If nothing else, at least Valve appears to have successfully managed to sell off the entirety of their remaining inventory of Steam Controllers during the sale. I suspect that means the process of discontinuing this aspect of their foray into attempting to take over the living room gaming space several years ago will be at least somewhat smoother, yet no less solemn and disappointing in my personal opinion.