Valve has acknowledged a backlog in Steam game build reviews, with actual wait times reaching up to 12 business days. Several indie developers reported that their finished submissions have not been approved for a long time, affecting their originally scheduled release dates.
The development teams behind Food Demon, Make a Wheel, and Cube Earth have all encountered review delays, with some applications waiting up to 20 days. The Steam page previously indicated that the process typically takes 3 to 5 business days.
structmira, developer of Cube Earth, stated that the game's trailer has surpassed 60,000 views on YouTube, with over 6,000 wishlists. The review stagnation has led to increased community complaints and weakened the momentum built up by previous promotional efforts.
In a Steamworks update, Valve stated that the current review progress is "somewhat behind," with delays largely stemming from builds requiring re-review. The company also released a new submission checklist, requiring developers to run the game via Steam for at least five minutes to check necessary runtime libraries, cloud saves, and achievement settings, and to provide at least five screenshots showcasing actual gameplay on the store page.
The recent increase in generative AI games is seen as a possible background factor for this backlog, but Valve has not confirmed any correlation between the two. The company only stated that it will continue to adjust the game build review process in the future.