Indie games are missing Steam launch dates as Valve's approval queue stretches to weeks

Indie games are missing their announced Steam launch dates because Valve's approval queue has stretched from days to weeks. Australia Did It, a turn-based tower defence game co-created by acclaimed designer Rami Ismail, missed its planned 10 November release while still waiting for Steam's build review 2

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Valve, which runs Steam, said earlier this month that approvals can now take up to 12 business days, against a usual three to five 1

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. It put the delays down to a surge in submissions and to builds being re-reviewed after failing basic checks 1

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Weeks in the queue

"We've been in the queue since 20th October, failed over a minor controller input issue on 5th November (which we resolved the same day), and we've been waiting again since with no meaningful response from Valve despite follow-ups," Ismail told Eurogamer 2

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He said Steam used to be the fast one: 10 to 14 days' notice was typically enough to fail review twice and still ship on time 2

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Australia Did It is not alone. TwoMenGames, a small studio, had been set to debut Amazing Slot Survivor on 13 November. It withdrew the release date announcement and returned its demo to Steam until a new date is set. "Steam's review process for the release is taking longer than we expected," the studio wrote on Steam 2

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. More games are affected too, including Bottled by Bears and Food Devils, with many more visible on social media 2

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. Developers began complaining publicly about approval delays earlier this month, and a week on the situation had not visibly improved 2

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Two explanations that don't meet

Developers and much of the press believe the surge comes from low-effort AI-generated games flooding submissions 2

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. Valve's own post never uses that word, and the company has separately said it will not ban AI-made games from Steam 1

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What Valve has done is tighten submission rules aimed at the lowest-effort titles 2

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. One new rule requires developers to spend at least five minutes playing their game on Steam before sending it in 2

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. Meanwhile Valve's own documentation still recommends submitting seven business days before launch, advice that no longer matches reality 1

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Ismail thinks the new guidelines are not enough. His argument runs further: Valve's refusal to take a position on AI is unsustainable 2

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. If low-effort operators can submit several clones a day through automated systems, he argues, Valve will eventually have to constrain distribution, raise fees or complicate submission 2

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. "I am concerned that Valve trying to avoid taking a political position on AI is forcing them into choices that will inevitably be worse for developers," he told Eurogamer 2

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