On November 4, Valve published an announcement titled “Update on the Pre-Release Review Process” for developers planning to release games on Steam. The announcement outlines measures to resolve review delays caused by the increasing number of game review submissions and to expedite the process.
Improvements in Response to Frequent Re-reviews; Relaxation of Screenshot Restrictions
Before releasing a game on Steam, developers must have two components reviewed by Valve’s review team: the “store page materials (description, genre, screenshots, and trailers)” and the “build (the game’s executable files).”
According to Steam’s announcement, the number of review requests for store pages and game builds has increased significantly over the past few months. Many developers have expressed that the longer-than-expected wait for review results has become a major source of stress.
While the goal has traditionally been to complete reviews within 3 to 5 business days, the process is currently taking up to 12 business days. Steam explains that the main cause is the high number of games requiring re-review, and that this is the first step toward improvements aimed at ensuring games pass the initial review.
The following items have been newly added to the release checklist:
The game must have been played for at least 5 minutes via Steam
Verify that all required redistributable packages (such as DirectX and Visual C++) are present
Achievements must be set up correctly
Ensure that Steam Cloud Saves function correctly
Provide at least 5 gameplay screenshots and specify their categories
Regarding the first point, “The game must have been run via Steam for at least 5 minutes,” Valve explained the reason: “It may be hard to believe, but we sometimes review builds that have never been played on Steam.”
Even if the development team launches the executable directly and it runs normally, they may have overlooked the basic steps users take when installing and playing via Steam (such as launch options or repository settings). Therefore, to submit a review, a record of having played the game for at least 5 minutes via Steam within the past 7 days (or since the last upload, if the latest build was more than 7 days ago) is now required.
Regarding the fifth point—“must have at least five gameplay screenshots”—it can be said that the previous rule has been relaxed.
In a 2016 update, Valve announced a policy restricting the posting of images other than “actual screenshots” on the Store. The company stated that placing concept art, pre-rendered images, award-winning images, or product descriptions in the section designated as “Screenshots” on the Store—rather than actual gameplay images—would hinder users’ ability to understand the game’s content.
With this update, concept art and screenshots of in-game cinematic scenes will also be permitted, provided they are uploaded with the correct category specified. Although these types of images were supposed to be restricted, it appears the rule was often not enforced in practice, which is likely why the policy has been relaxed.
The update to the review checklist is intended solely to reduce the number of re-reviews caused by developers’ failure to verify their submissions. However, if the number of review requests continues to rise, it may not be possible to resolve delays through developer efforts alone.
With the proliferation of generative AI, game development and release have become easier, and a massive number of new titles are being uploaded daily to game distribution platforms such as Steam and itch.io.
On some platforms, multiple clone games of titles that went viral on social media are even being registered overnight. This update is not a direct countermeasure against games created using generative AI.
However, given the current situation where the burden on reviewers is increasing—to the point where even the review of regular games is being delayed—it may become necessary to further reevaluate the review system itself in the future.
