Valve Tightens Steam Build Review Rules as AI-Made Games Swell the Backlog

Developers must now run their games through Steam for at least five minutes before submission, as reviews that should take three to five days stretch to as many as 12 business days.

By Nakoda News Desk

1 day ago·2 min read

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Valve has introduced new pre-release checks for games submitted to Steam to reduce review delays.Photo: Engadget

Valve has changed the rules developers must follow before releasing games on Steam, in an effort to clear a backlog of build reviews that has pushed some independent titles past their planned launch dates, Engadget reported.

Valve aims to review new titles in three to five days, but reviews are currently taking up to 12 business days, according to the report. The company said the new requirements are partly intended to cut down on builds that fail and have to be reviewed again, which add to the delays.

"We've heard from a lot of developers and know how stressful it's been having to wait for review build updates longer than expected," Valve wrote in a community post quoted by Engadget. "More improvements are coming to the build review process, but these initial changes are a great starting point."

What Changes for Developers

The main new requirement is that developers must play their game through Steam for at least five minutes before submitting it. Valve said it receives builds for review that have never been run through Steam, and that a game which works when launched directly from its executable can still miss basic steps that affect players who install it through the store.

Developers must also confirm that common redistributable components such as DirectX and Visual C++ are in place, check that achievements are ready, confirm that Steam Cloud save paths are configured correctly, and label their screenshots as gameplay, menus, concept art or cinematics.

The Role of AI

Valve's announcement did not cite AI-generated games as a cause of the backlog. Engadget, however, linked the delays to a surge of submissions, many of them built quickly with AI tools and without adequate testing. A developer posting on X as 2 Left Thumbs said review times appeared to spike around September and October. A Reddit user's analysis cited by Engadget found that 49.9 percent of games released on Steam in October disclosed AI-generated content, and in June nearly 20 percent of demos in Steam Next Fest disclosed use of AI.

The delays have had a cost for smaller studios. The developer of Cubic Earth told PC Gamer that the game's trailer had passed 60,000 views on YouTube and it had more than 6,000 wishlists, but that its Steam Community page was filling with player complaints and the team had lost momentum.

Why It Matters

Steam is the dominant storefront for PC games, and its review queue is effectively a gate on when studios can start earning revenue. The changes show how cheap, AI-assisted development is beginning to strain the moderation and quality-control systems of digital marketplaces. Valve is not alone: in recent days Nexus Mods made AI disclosure mandatory for new uploads and Itch.io removed large volumes of AI-generated content and added a filter to exclude it. Valve's approach, for now, is to put more of the testing burden on developers rather than to restrict AI-made games outright.