Valve’s new Steam Controller has officially launched, but many people could not buy one before it disappeared from stock. The controller went live on Steam and sold out in about 30 minutes, while also jumping to the top of Steam’s best selling charts.

That is a strong start for Valve’s new hardware push. The controller is the first of Valve’s recently announced products to launch, and demand appears to be much higher than the available supply.

The launch quickly turned into a checkout race

Like many popular hardware launches, getting one came down to timing. Some buyers were able to place an order quickly, while others saw the page switch to out of stock before they could finish checkout.

The store page was still moving between available and unavailable for some people, which suggests stock may have been appearing in small waves. Valve has not yet said when more units will be available.

The fast sellout shows that there is still interest in Valve hardware beyond the Steam Deck. It also suggests that players are paying attention to Valve’s broader ecosystem, especially as the company prepares more living room and SteamOS focused devices.

For anyone still trying to buy one, the best option is to keep checking the Steam page for restocks. Adding enough money to your Steam Wallet before trying again may also help speed up checkout, since payment delays can matter when stock is limited.

This launch also creates more interest around Valve’s next hardware moves. The Steam Machine and Steam Frame have both been discussed recently, but Valve has not given a clear launch update for them yet.

For now, the story is simple. The new Steam Controller arrived, demand was high, and launch stock disappeared almost immediately. The bigger question is how quickly Valve can restock it, and whether this early demand carries over to its next hardware releases.