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Valve announces changes to Steam's review process, as a surge in game submissions pushes review times to "up to 12 business days", instead of the usual 3-5 days (Jay Peters/The Verge)

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Valve is preparing adjustments to its Steam evaluation procedures after a massive influx of title submissions overwhelmed operations. The unexpected surge has dramatically slowed down the system, forcing creators to wait up to 12 business days for project approvals. Typically, the platform completes these routine evaluations within three to five days.

Key points

  • Developers are experiencing substantial delays because Steam review times have extended w…: Developers are experiencing substantial delays because Steam review times have extended well beyond normal expectations.
  • Standard review wait times typically require only three to five days under ordinary opera…: Standard review wait times typically require only three to five days under ordinary operating conditions.
  • Valve is overhauling its review system to handle the massive volume of newly submitted ga…: Valve is overhauling its review system to handle the massive volume of newly submitted games.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

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Apple Developer: |

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Gareth Vipers / Wall Street Journal: |

Katie Tarasov / CNBC: |

Tom Wilson / Financial Times: |

Michael Acton / Financial Times: |

Apple: |

Dave Lee / Bloomberg: |

Tobias Mann / The Register: |

Anthropic: |

Lance Whitney / ZDNET: |

Financial Times: |

Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology: |

Jason Schreier / Bloomberg: |

Mike Allen / Axios: |

David Pierce / The Verge: |

David Swan / The Age: |

Emma Roth / The Verge: |

Gerrit De Vynck / Washington Post: |

Bloomberg: |

Natasha Mascarenhas / Bloomberg: |

Jay Peters / The Verge: |

Colin Demarest / Axios: |

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