Valve has been attempting over “the past few weeks to enhance [its] process to align with demand”
Image credit: Rami Ismail, Aesthetician Labs
Numerous indie developers have had to delay their game launches due to setbacks in Steam’s game submission and approval procedure.
Developer Rami Ismail informed Eurogamer that the most recent version of Australia Did It: End-of-the-World Railway Defense Business, developed alongside Aesthetician Labs, has been pending in Steam’s approval queue since October 20, 2026.
“[It] faltered over a trivial controller input on November 5 (which we rectified the same day), and we’ve been waiting once more since with no substantial reply from Valve despite multiple follow-ups.”
“I’m accustomed to hold-and-wait scenarios on consoles, but Steam has traditionally been much more prompt – 10 to 14 days prior to launch was typically sufficient to fail twice and deliver on time,” remarked Ismail.
Eurogamer also reported other indie developers facing delays, including TwoMenGames, Monoii Studio, and Studio Daimon.
Last week, Valve recognized a “substantial rise in submissions for store page and build examination in recent months” and mentioned it has been working over “the past few weeks to enhance our process to correspond with it.”
“Our goal is to assess every game build promptly, generally within three to five business days,” it stated. “However, we’re currently lagging behind, and it’s taking as long as 12 business days. A significant portion of that delay is due to needing to re-evaluate games.”
In the previous month, worries were expressed about an uptick in ‘AI slop’ on Steam, particularly that generative AI is being utilized to replicate games, especially indie projects.
Valve did not link the slowdown to the surge of generative AI-developed games, but Ismail voiced concern that Valve’s lack of acknowledgment could negatively impact developers over time.
“I am apprehensive that Valve’s attempt to sidestep taking a political stance on AI is compelling them into choices that will ultimately be detrimental for developers,” he stated.
