Valve has been working over “the last several weeks to scale [its] process to match demand”
Image credit: Rami Ismail, Aesthetician Labs
Several indie developers have had to postpone their game launches due to delays in Steam’s game submission and approval process.
Developer Rami Ismail told Eurogamer that the latest build of Australia Did It: End-of-the-World Railway Defense Business, co-developed with Aesthetican Labs, has been in Steam’s approval queue since October 20, 2026.
“[It] failed over a minor controller input on November 5 (which we resolved the same day), and we’ve been waiting again since with no meaningful response from Valve despite follow-ups.”
“I’m used to hold-and-wait patterns on console, but Steam has historically been much more snappy – 10 to 14 days pre-launch was usually enough to fail twice and ship on time,” added Ismail.
Eurogamer also cited other indie developers experiencing delays, including TwoMenGames, Monoii Studio, and Studio Daimon.
Last week, Valve acknowledged a “significant increase in submissions for store page and build review in recent months” and stated it has been working over “the last several weeks to scale our process to match it.”
“We aim to test every game build in a timely manner,
