Valve has announced that it is bumping even more Steam Deck orders into the current Q3 window. The announcement comes after the company began rapidly increasing the rate at which it fulfills pre-orders this month. This past week looks to have been the largest jump in order fulfillment since the Steam Deck launched in February. Many r/SteamDeck Redditors who have been waiting months for their Steam Deck had their orders fulfilled this week, with some even being in the Q4 slot just last month.
Valve announced that it would be increasing Steam Deck order fulfillment at the end of July, but the pace at which the company has managed to do so has been entirely unexpected. Check out Valve’s latest announcement regarding order fulfillment below.
Great news! We are making more Steam Decks than ever, and have just updated shipping window estimates for reservation holders. If you were previously in the Q4 (Oct-Dec) window, take a look – you might be in Q3 now!
Valve
It wasn’t that long ago that Valve was pushing orders back into the “After Q3” and “Q4” windows, as its order system displays wait time. The production improvements are great news for the company as it heads into the first holiday period for the Steam Deck. The rate at which the company is now fulfilling orders gives some hope that it may be able to sell its portable PC on demand during the crucial November/December holiday shopping period.
Since the Steam Deck was released in February, Valve has continuously struggled to fulfill orders for its machine. Many of those who ordered the Steam Deck took to tracking their orders using custom software such as queue calculators that would estimate when they could expect to receive their order invite.
In the first few months after the launch of the Steam Deck, the queue moved frustratingly slowly. The order queue moved so slowly that people were tracking their position within it by the minute that they ordered the system on the day pre-orders went live. For months after the official release date, Valve was still only able to fulfill orders from those who had placed their order on the very first day.
Contrast that with the order speed from Valve’s July announcement, and the improvement is clear. Now, even those who ordered their systems months after orders first went live are receiving their invites. A quick look at the Steam Deck subreddit shows that after today’s update, many people who placed their orders as recently as April are now in the Q3 bracket. That means they should receive their shiny new systems by the end of September. Although at the rate Valve has increased its order fulfillment, perhaps they will receive them even sooner.
