Update: We've now found that when attempting to reserve a Steam Deck, the expected order availibility is listed as Q1, 2022. The screenshot below was taken by one of our US editors.
Just recently, we were all stoked about the announced of Valve’s new Steam Deck, a handheld device that would allow people to play Steam games on the go. The Steam Deck looks similar to the Switch, and it would be groundbreaking for those who’ve longed to play PC games but haven’t been able to get into the PC gaming setup.
While today has been exciting for some, it’s been unbelievably frustrating for many. In addition to error messages that lack any explanation as to what’s gone wrong, people have also found themselves being informed that their Steam account is too new to make a reservation.
While Steam had put a 48 hour wait on Steam accounts that were too new in order to combat scalpers, people who’ve had Steam accounts for years and years are also being blocked from purchasing the Steam Deck because their “account is too new.” The comments underneath Steam's post about Steam Deck reservations mirror this, too:
People are understandably furious, and at the time of writing, they’re still encountering such errors. “Apparently my Steam account from 2009 is too new to reserve a Steam deck," says Twitter user, Joe Parlock. Another user, Geeky Guy, tweets, "Wow. Valve's servers could barely handle those Steam Deck reservation orders. Sadly their servers kept errorring out on me and prevented me from getting one."
These same sentiments are littered across social media. Valve has yet to post on this issue, so it’s unclear if any of these people will be able to reserve the Steam Deck any time soon. At least the device itself seems to be promising for those who are able to get their hands on it. Epic's Tim Sweeney praised the Steam Deck as a great open platform recently and describes it as "“an amazing move by Valve.” The Steam Deck will be officially arriving in December for those lucky enough to have been able to place a reservation.