You Might Not See Your Steam Machine Until The End Of The Year, Warns Valve

The much-anticipated Steam Machine has finally made its appearance, despite setbacks and speculation about whether it would even be seen this year.

However, the elusive opportunity to purchase is only being made available to a select few, leaving certain people who signed up for the reservation queue in the dark about when they will be offered the choice to order.

The Steam Machine has been one of the most talked-about systems of the past few years and has been shrouded in speculation, and with the first batch of reservation emails finally being sent out, many are rejoicing in the fact that they may finally get a chance to own one of the units.

While this is a great sign for prospective owners, many may also be disappointed to find that Valve has revealed it could take until the end of the year to fulfil all orders (thanks, Tom's Hardware):

“We’re fulfilling orders on a daily basis, sending out emails to reservation holders with the option to purchase in the order in which they landed on the list post-randomization. We expect everyone in the reservation queue will have the option to purchase by the end of this year. With each reservation queue and corresponding waitlist being per-product, per-region, they can move at different speeds based on demand. 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 is sending out purchase invitations in waves throughout the coming year, meaning many people who signed up for the waitlist will have to wait potentially months to see their console.

This process does, however, also differ by region and by product, meaning that certain regions' waitlists will move faster depending on demand; people choosing the more sought-after version of the console may have to wait a little longer if their region has many people attempting to buy.

Despite this, Valve has stated that everyone who applied for the reservation queue should receive an offer by the end of the year, reassuring people who haven't had the opportunity yet.