Steam Game Reviews Now Take 12 Days: New Valve Checklist

Valve has admitted that getting a game onto Steam is taking longer than it promises. In a Steamworks announcement on November 3, the company said build reviews are "taking up to 12 business days" against its usual aim of three to five, and added new checks to its release checklist to cut repeat reviews, as reported by The Verge, Engadget and Xarmo.

Quick summary

• Valve says it has seen a significant increase in store page and build review submissions in recent months.
• Reviews now take up to 12 business days; the usual target is 3 to 5.
• Valve blames much of the delay on re-reviewing games that failed first time.
• New checklist items include five minutes of playtime launched through Steam.
• Valve gave no date for returning to normal and did not blame AI.

What did Valve change?

• Five minutes on Steam: developers must launch through the Play button for at least five minutes. Valve says it sometimes receives builds never played through Steam.
• Redistributables: list packages such as DirectX or Visual C++ that Steam should install, or say none are needed.
• Achievements: checks flag incomplete setups such as missing names and icons.
• Steam Cloud: games advertising it need a save written to Steam Cloud.
• Screenshots: at least five must be tagged as gameplay.

Valve also now shows dynamic reminders based on what a store page promises, such as languages or multiplayer, and says more improvements are coming.

Which games have been delayed?

Kotaku reported that Food Devils, from nine-person studio Daimon, was submitted on October 12 and still unapproved on its November 3 launch day. GamesRadar+ reported that Wheel Make It slipped from October 12 to a November 1 release, though it noted the game had failed review at least once over a controller issue. In Japan, publisher FuRyu said its roguelike CRYMELIGHT missed its Steam launch because it had not cleared pre-release review; the Switch 2 and PS5 versions were still planned for November 5.

Is AI the reason?

Many developers think so, but Valve's post does not say it. Kotaku points to roughly 4,000 Steam releases in October, with nearly half disclosing some generative AI use, yet notes nobody can prove that is behind the queue. Our look at Steam's AI disclosures covers that data.

What does it mean for players?

Expect some indie launch dates to slip, sometimes by weeks, with store pages flipping back to "Coming soon". Wishlist a game rather than relying on a date, and use the GameDrop launch calendar to track changes. For the wider Steam picture, see the October hardware survey.

Verdict: a clearer number helps developers plan, but a better checklist only reduces repeat work. If submissions keep rising, waits may not shrink.

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