Valve has confirmed that Steam game submissions are taking longer to process than usual, with store and page reviews now stretching to as many as 12 business days. The company attributed the slowdown to what it described as a significant rise in submissions over recent months and said it is running slightly behind its normal pace of three to five days.
Why the backlog is hitting indie developers
The longer waits have become a practical problem for smaller studios. Indie developers have aired frustrations about drawn-out approval times, and in some cases the delays have pushed games past their planned launch dates. Valve said much of the extra time comes from having to review the same games more than once.
What Valve is changing in the release checklist
To reduce those repeat reviews, Valve is adjusting the release checklist that developers must satisfy before a game can go live. The goal, according to the company, is to cut down on re-reviews caused by basic functional problems rather than deeper issues with the games themselves.
Playing through Steam for at least five minutes
One new requirement is that developers run their games through Steam for a minimum of five minutes. Valve noted that its reviewers have occasionally received builds that had never been launched through the platform at all. A game might work correctly when a developer starts its executable directly, but that does not guarantee the installation and play experience will hold up for a user going through Steam.
Achievements and redistributables
The updated checklist also asks developers to ensure achievements are ready and to confirm any common redistributables that Steam may need to install, such as DirectX or Visual C++. Those elements can affect whether a game launches properly on a player’s machine, and missing them can send a submission back for another pass.
More changes are on the way
Valve said additional improvements to the build review process are in development, though it did not offer a timeline or detail what those changes will involve. For now, the revised checklist is the company’s main lever for bringing review times back toward their usual range.
What the delay means for release planning
The shift matters most for developers working toward fixed launch dates, since a review that runs to 12 business days leaves little room for a second attempt if a build is sent back. By front-loading checks that catch common installation and functionality issues, Valve is trying to keep submissions from cycling through review more than once. Developers preparing a Steam game submissions package should treat the five-minute Steam run, achievement setup and redistributable confirmation as part of the launch process rather than an afterthought.
