Steam review delays force indie developers to postpone launches
Valve says reviews are taking up to 12 business days as submissions rise, but has not attributed the backlog to AI-made games.
Independent game developers have postponed Steam releases while awaiting Valve's approval, with the company acknowledging that reviews can now take up to 12 business days. Valve said increased submissions and repeat checks of builds that fail basic requirements were contributing to the delays.
Among the affected games is Australia Did It, a turn-based train defense title from Rami Ismail that had been scheduled for November 10. Publisher Mystic Forge said it had been awaiting Valve's build review for weeks, without a clear completion date.
Ismail told Eurogamer that the game was submitted on October 20 and rejected on November 5 because of a minor controller input issue. His team fixed the problem that day, he said, but subsequent follow-ups had not produced a substantive response from Valve.
TwoMenGames also removed the launch date for its debut title, Amazing Slot Survivor, after approval failed to arrive in time. The studio said the review was taking longer than anticipated and made the slot machine-themed roguelike's demo available again.
Valve's usual review window is three to five business days. It now requires developers to spend at least five minutes playing their game through Steam before submission and says further review-process changes are coming.
Valve has said it will not prohibit AI-made games, but did not identify them as a cause of the delays. Ismail argued that allowing repeated submissions of cloned games could eventually prompt restrictions that also burden other developers.
