Valve just changed its Steam release rules amid a flood of AI games
Valve says new checks will reduce re-reviews as indie developers report waits of up to 12 business days for Steam approvals.
- Indie game developers are missing planned launch dates as Steam's approval process faces significant delays, with some titles waiting two or three weeks for build reviews.
- October's Next Fest saw 7,240 games, a 65.2 percent increase over June, as Steam grapples with a surging review backlog; developers suspect the queue is clogged by AI-generated content.
- Studio Daimon's Food Devils missed its early access launch after an October 12 submission, while Cubic Earth developer structmira reported losing momentum as their store page faced player complaints.
- With November's release window crowded by major titles like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and GTA 6, developers fear their delayed games will be overshadowed.
- Valve wrote that "more improvements are coming to the build review process," and now requires developers to run games through Steam for at least five minutes before submitting.
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16 Articles
Indie games are missing launch dates because Steam is backed up
Many indie game developers have recently posted on social media about unexpectedly long approval wait times for their game submissions on Steam, with some of the approvals causing developers to miss their planned launch dates. For example, Studio Daimon, the team behind an upcoming title called Food Devils, had planned to launch the game in […]
Valve modified the checks to publish games on Steam while the reviews take up to 12 business days, more than the usual three to five deadline. Delays already affect launch dates and, according to developers, can erase the momentum gained before the release.
Valve has increased the approval time for Steam games, new rules for developers, indi-games are facing delays, and it is necessary to test the Tetels before delivering.
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