New Steam Deck 512GB pre-orders won't ship until Q3 2022

Valve has been quietly adjusting Steam Deck pre-order availability as part of its strategic staggered rollout.

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Instead of a huge free-for-all spree where bots dominate pre-orders, Valve has a multi-tiered plan with Steam Deck reservations. The idea is to start fulfilling pre-orders on a first-come, first-served basis. That means consumers who made their reservations early will also get their Steam Decks earlier than those who reserve today.

Reservations for the system were first held a day ago with a targeted December 2021 shipment date. Now, however, the models have been pushed back as far as Q3 2022. Valve plans to start shipping Steam Decks in waves rather than all at once.

Here's the new revised shipment dates for anyone who reserves a Steam Deck today:

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• 64GB eMMC $399 model - Q2 2022 (April - June 2022)
• 256GB NVMe $529 model - Q2 2022 (April - June 2022)
• 512GB NVMe $649 model - Q3 2022 (July - September 2022)

Valve is also careful to warn consumers that the $5 registrations aren't a pre-order. You're simply paying to reserve an opportunity for a pre-order invitation. There's also no guarantee that a reservation will lead to a pre-order invitation.

The dates may continue to be pushed back as Valve matches up reservations with its plans for available stock.

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