Indie games are missing launch dates because Steam is backed up

Indie game developers are experiencing delays in getting their games approved for release on Steam, leading to missed planned launch dates. Studio Daimon, behind the upcoming title Food Devils, planned to release the game in early access today but is still awaiting approval. The game director, Alfred Kamon, stated that they don't know when Steam will provide the final approval, expressing concern about potentially missing the release date due to the long wait.

Another example is the missed launch of Wheel Make It by nearly two weeks by publisher 2 Left Thumbs due to lengthy build review times. Valve's website indicates that a review of a game's store presence typically takes 3-5 business days, but Valve suggests submitting the page for review at least 7 business days before the desired launch date.

However, in recent times, Steam has been facing a surge in game submissions, with October's Steam Next Fest having 7,240 games, a 65.2 percent increase compared to June's offering. This increased workload on Steam may be causing delays, as developers suspect the issue stems from a "slop" clogging up the review queue, likely due to a significant number of games now requiring AI disclosures.

Valve has not yet commented on the situation, but platform Itch.io has also experienced a rise in game submissions, with a doubling of game pages created per-day over the past two months.