RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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In a new update on Steam Machine sales, Valve says it's "fulfilling orders on a daily basis," and that it expects that everyone currently in the reservation queue will have an opportunity to purchase the machine they've been waiting for—by, uh, the end of the year.
Announced in June , Valve's system for determining who gets first crack at a Steam Machine was essentially a lottery. Signups were taken until June 25, after which all entries were randomized into a reservation order: Those near the top of the list were added to the reservation queue and would have a Steam Machine reserved for them, while everyone else was put on a waitlist, where they'd linger until more stock became available.
"With each reservation queue and corresponding waitlist being per-product, per-region, they can move at different speeds based on demand," Valve explained in the latest update . "This means for some products in some regions, we've reached the end of the reservation queue and have started inviting folks from the waitlist."
Valve also noted that this does not mean anyone on the waitlist will leapfrog people who already have a reservation: "We're only dipping into waitlists if and when we reach the end of the reservation queue for that product and region."
Being moved into the reservation queue is actually the penultimate step in the process—once you receive the email notifying you of your ascended status, you've got three days to pull the trigger and actually buy the thing, or your reservation will go to someone else. So it's not necessarily that everyone will have their Steam Deck by the end of 2026, just that emails enabling purchases should be sent out by then. As Valve explained:
"If you have a reservation, you can expect an email offering you the chance to purchase by the end of the year. If you have a spot on one of the waitlists, there is a chance you could be moved into reservations depending on which product you're on the list for; in those instances we will email you about your new reservation status first, with a purchase email to follow once your spot in that queue comes up."
So it's good news to the extent that yes, they're coming, but not great news because, y'know, it's July . There's still a lot of 2026 left, and that means at least some of you eager Steam Machine beavers out there are in for long waits ahead before you can actually get your hands on your hot (well, warm ) new rig. Here's to 2027, I guess?
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