Steam Review Process Slows to 12 Days as Valve Adds Dev Checks

Valve says the Steam review process for new games is now taking up to 12 business days, more than double its usual target of 3 to 5 days, after what it called “a significant increase in submissions” for store page and build review in recent months. In a Steamworks post published on November 3, the company also added new release checklist items that developers must complete before a game can be submitted.

The delays have already hit indie studios trying to launch in a crowded November, with some games missing their planned release dates while they waited for approval.

Why the Steam Review Process Is Slower Right Now

According to Valve’s announcement on the Steamworks Development page, much of the delay comes from having to review the same games more than once. Valve said re-reviews for basic functional problems “isn’t great for you or for us,” and that the new checklist items are meant to help more games pass on the first attempt. The company added that more improvements to build review are coming.

Valve did not say what is driving the jump in submissions. Developers widely suspect generative AI is part of the answer. Steam’s own disclosure data shows how fast that segment is growing, as we covered when AI disclosure labels started appearing on half of new Steam games. Kotaku reported that around 4,000 games were released on Steam in October alone, and that more games had launched on the platform in 2026 by mid-October than in all of 2025.

New Steam Release Checklist Items

The changes are already live in Steamworks. Developers now need to:

• Run the game through Steam for at least 5 minutes, within the past 7 days or since the last build upload.
• Declare which common redistributables, such as DirectX or Visual C++, Steam should install, or confirm none are needed.
• Fix achievement setups that Steamworks flags for missing names, icons or duplicates.
• Write a test save to Steam Cloud if the game lists Steam Cloud support.
• Provide at least 5 screenshots categorized as gameplay. Menus, concept art and cinematics are now allowed if labeled, and players will see those labels on the store.

“Believe it or not, sometimes we review builds that have not ever been played through Steam,” Valve wrote, explaining that a game can run fine from its executable while still having broken launch options or missing content depots.

Steamworks will also remind developers at submission to check features their store page promises, such as languages. Valve’s existing Steamworks review documentation still tells developers to plan for at least 7 business days, a buffer that is not enough at current wait times.

Indie Games Missing Their Launch Dates

The slowdown arrives in one of the busiest months of the year for games, with Zelda: Ocarina of Time and GTA 6 both landing in November, as our November 2026 game releases guide shows.

Kotaku spoke with several affected developers, including Studio Daimon, a nine-person team in Italy whose game Food Devils was due on November 3 but was still waiting for approval after being submitted on October 12.

Valve has so far avoided restricting AI tools themselves. Its Steam business team recently told developers it does not want to act as a gatekeeper over which tools studios use, as we reported in our story on Valve’s stance on Steam AI games. For now, the company’s answer to the backlog is stricter basic checks rather than limits on what gets submitted.

What It Means for Developers and Players

Studios planning a Steam launch should complete the new checklist items before submitting and leave well over 7 business days before release. For players, some smaller games may arrive later than announced, while the new screenshot labels should make it clearer when a store image shows real gameplay.