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Indie Steam launches slip as Valve store reviews take weeks
The Verge reported Tuesday that some indie developers missed planned Steam launch dates after store and build reviews stretched well past Valve’s typical 3-to-5 business day window.
- New headline Was: “Indie games are missing launch dates because Steam is backed up”
- Our desk filed its story
Some independent game teams have missed planned Steam launch dates after store-page and build reviews stretched far beyond Valve’s published timelines, The Verge reported Tuesday1.
Studio Daimon submitted its upcoming title Food Devils on Oct. 12 for an early-access launch on Nov. 3 and said the game was still awaiting approval, according to The Verge1. Game director Alfred Kamon said the studio had filed an urgent ticket last week after the delay threatened the release date and that the ticket was ignored1.
Publisher 2 Left Thumbs told The Verge it missed the planned launch of Wheel Make It by nearly two weeks because of long waits for build reviews1. The studio also described failing a review over a single menu option that was not accessible with a controller, The Verge reported, citing a Steam post1.
Valve’s Steam partner documentation says a review of a game’s store presence typically takes three to five business days and recommends submitting a page at least seven business days before it is meant to go live1. The Verge said the platform has seen a sharp rise in games: October’s Steam Next Fest had 7,240 titles, a 65.2 percent increase over June’s event, according to How to Market a Game as cited in the report1. A Reddit user also found that 49.9 percent of games released since Valve began asking developers in 2024 to label titles that use AI now carry an AI disclosure, The Verge reported1.
Kamon and 2 Left Thumbs attributed the longer waits to so-called “slop” slowing the queue, The Verge said1. “We can only assume it’s because Steam’s review queue is clogged up by AI slop,” Kamon said, according to The Verge1. Valve did not immediately reply to a request for comment1.
Itch.io has also reported a rise in game pages, saying last weekend that the number created per day had doubled in two months, and later said it had deleted a couple of terabytes of AI-generated material, The Verge reported1. Whether Steam’s delays are caused by volume, AI submissions, review staffing, or some mix of those factors is not established in the reporting1.
