The steam hardware feed just published news about the reservation queue:
We launched Steam Frame last month, and with the reservation queues and waitlist in place we wanted to give folks a better idea of when they can expect to see an email with the option to purchase.
…
If you have a reservation You can now check on your expected order window by going directly to the Steam Frame product page while logged in to your Steam account. Once there, you’ll see confirmation that you’ll receive your order email either by December, or in 2027. Those in the 2027 camp will receive further (more detailed) information on their expected order timing by January.
I don’t know if they’re rolling it out differently in different regions, but I cannot see it right now and I am in the reservation queue for Europe/Germany.
😐
Edit: Now it’s telling me that I’m in the 2027 group. Oh well.
I genuinely don’t understand the distinction between the reservation queue and wait list. I was led to believe that the reservation queue meant “there’s a specific physical device reserved in your name that will be made available for you to purchase shortly”. It seems instead to have meant “you’ll be able to buy one when we have one available and it’s your turn”, which seems indistinguishable from being on the waiting list?
My understanding is that the reservation queue is a mix of “we have a specific physical unit assigned to your name” and “we have a manufacturing order placed, of which one of the units is assigned to you”. Whereas waitlist is more “we haven’t even placed the order yet to manufacture your unit, so we can’t guarantee it will even get made”.
So the distinction is more about the likelihood of ever getting one.
I see. Thanks for your reply and for sharing your understanding! If that’s the case, I believe that Valve could have done a much better job messaging and managing expectations. As things stand, it seems reasonable that people in the reservation queue would have expected to be able to purchase a unit in the near-term (not 4-6 months (or more?) in the future). What an unnecessary buzzkill. :-/
I completely agree with you. I think the intention behind their system was good, and is better than the alternatives they’ve used for the Steam Deck and Controller, but they really need to clarify and/or relabel both lists.
That being said, my comment was based on what I remember reading during the Steam Machine’s release and I assume it applies to the Frame as well. But I don’t remember at all if it was from an official source or simply what people were theorizing in various threads at the time.
Understood. Thanks for the clarification!
its a pre order. That’s it.
Thanks! I see. I expected otherwise based on how things were worded (and it seems I’m not the only one who understood things in this way), which makes me think that Valve could have done a better job messaging this originally. I’m wondering how many people bought VR games during the recent sale expecting to be able to play them on a frame in the immediate future?
Yeah, it was like that with the deck and the steam machine as well, I don’t like waitlists or anything like that. I just want a “Buy Now” button haha
I think you’re right, but this doesn’t seem to be what was initially communicated. Oh well… :-/
I interpret the queue as having an actual ranking to it, whereas the waitlist does not. So if you’re in the queue, you have some unknown position in the order. If you’re in the waitlist, it’s just an unordered list where you have a random chance of being periodically added to the end of the queue.
As an anti-scalping measure it has some value since people who got in early would have a large advantage otherwise, but perhaps the queue itself is a bit too long and should have been restricted to something close to “definitely coming this year”.
The FAQ says the waitlist is ordered, only the initial sign-up period was unordered.
Thanks! That’s possible as well, though I thought I recently saw a reference to waitlist position? In any event, I agree that the system has value for anti-scalping, and that there is some implied timing to “we have one for you to purchase” that shouldn’t involve waiting multiple years.
It’s literally on the faq of the steam frame page. Shame people don’t know how to read anymore.
My point was that there seems to be no functional difference? See my comment down thread if that doesn’t clarify why your comment isn’t meaningful
I’m not going to do the research for you just because you lack basic comprehension skills. The difference is right there in the faq. I even went out of my way to post the screenshots of each item you inquired about.
There’s nothing to research. Though I genuinely appreciate the effort you went to, i’m afraid you’ve missed the point repetedly, which is ironic given your rude accusations. Not sure if you’re trolling or blindly repeating things that have been said to you, but you’re definitely not adding anything of value right now.
I think it’s the planned production run, not already produced units that’ll all go to the reservation queue.
So if you’re in the queue, you’re guaranteed to get one. The wait-list will… have to wait.
Thanks! My assumption has been that Valve would not stop making frames while there’s a line of people trying to buy one, so eventually everyone on the waitlist would be offered to buy one after some unknown (potentially long) wait time. Might they stop making them before then?
Ideally that would be the case, but the last few years were a disaster for the consumer electronics market due to all the RAM and GPUs in the world being sold to AI hyperscalers. So if there’s just physically no components to make these things from, then that’s that.
Thanks for this perspective. I knew RAM was scarce, but it never occurred to me that things were so bad that in-demand electronics might simply stop being made as a result.
Read again. The distinction is very clearly stated.
Reservation queue : There is a product for you in the current batch, just wait for it to be available before purchasing it.
Waitlist : There wasn’t enough products in this batch to put you in the queue, but if someone in the queue decide not to buy, his product will be assigned to someone else, and a spot will be freed in the reservation queue, allowing someone (probably randomly chosen in the waitlist) to join the queue.
I agree: there’s a distinction without a difference. If they have the product now, why can’t it be purchased until next year? If you have to wait to purchase (and assuming valve will keep making frames as long as there’s a literal line of people eager to buy them), it’s functionally the same as the waiting list: wait until there’s stock ready to ship and it’s your turn, then you can purchase. I’m not sure what difference in practice you’re seeing?
They DON’T have the product, but they do have secured the parts and manufacture, so it gets slowly built, after which small batches are dispached around the world, before getting assigned to someone in the queue to be bought (if he still wish to).
For the waitlist, they don’t have secured enough parts to buy a chunk of manufacturing time to assemble them. From the look of it they decided to buy additional manufacturing time chunks in 2028, but don’t know yet when they will be, so wait & see.
Thanks! I feel that ought to have been better communicated, since naturally there’s some implied timing. For example, if I said I had a car available for you to buy, how long do I have to be able to provide the car before my claim it’s available seems false? 1 year? Longer?