Valve admits it’s ‘running behind’ on approving Steam games because it has to keep re-reviewing them, which surely has nothing to do with AI

Valve has acknowledged significant delays in Steam game approvals, with review times extending from the standard 3-5 business days to as long as 12 business days. The company attributed the surge to a “significant increase in submissions” in recent months, though it admits that much of the delay stems from having to re-review games for basic functional issues.

The bottleneck has caused frustration among indie developers, with several missing their planned launch dates. Notable examples include Food Devils, Wheel Make It, and Cubic Earth, with some developers waiting up to 20 days beyond Valve’s stated review window for approval responses.

Some developers speculate that the surge in AI-generated games has clogged the review queue, though Valve hasn’t explicitly confirmed this as the primary cause. In response, Valve has introduced changes to its release checklist designed to help developers avoid common functional issues and reduce the need for re-reviews, signaling recognition of the strain on its platform’s review infrastructure.

Sources

• Valve admits it’s ‘running behind’ on approving Steam games because it has to keep re-reviewing them, which surely has nothing to do with AI
• “Steam’s review queue is clogged up by AI slop”: Salacious Fire Emblem-ish Food Devils gets a delay because its devs think Valve is inundated with genAI games
• Indie games are missing launch dates because Steam is backed up
• Valve is making changes to deal with a ‘significant increase’ in Steam game submissions