The Steam Deck from Valve is sure to sell out fast, so if you want to get your hands on one then you have come to the right place. The good news is that, unlike the recent GPU and console releases, this shouldn’t be a battle against scalpers thanks to a couple of clever measures that Valve has instigated in the process.
The first thing to be aware of is that when you reserve your model, you will need to put down a refundable $5 dollar charge. On top of that, your Steam account will need to have been active since before June of this year and must have made a purchase before that time. This means scalpers cannot set up accounts and quickly start reserving everything. Better yet, you can only reserve a single unit per account, so pick your model carefully.
Reservations will open on open Friday 16 July 2021 at 1 PM ET and you will need to go to the official Steam Deck website to place your order. There will be three models to choose from, and you will need to pick which one you want. The Steam Deck will only be available in the US, Canada, EU, and the UK and will launch in December 2021, so you will be unable to reserve a unit if you live outside of those regions.
