Valve Introduces New Steam Rules to Fix Game Approval Delays for Developers

Valve announced on November 4, 2026, that it is making changes to Steam‘s game approval process after acknowledging that developers are facing longer-than-usual review times. The company has updated its pre-release checklist with new requirements designed to help developers pass the review process on their first attempt and reduce delays caused by repeated submissions.

Steam Now Requires Developers to Play Their Games for 5 Minutes Before Review Process

On the official Steamworks Development page, Valve highlighted several additions to the checklist. These include running games through Steam for at least five minutes, checking achievements and cloud saves, and categorizing store-page screenshots correctly.

One of the biggest requirement changes requires developers to launch their latest game build directly through Steam and record the gameplay for at least five minutes before submitting it for review. The playtime must be recorded within the past seven days or since the latest build upload if it was uploaded more than seven days ago.

Additionally, developers now must confirm which common redistributables their games require. Valve has also added checks for achievements, including missing names, icons, and duplicate names. Games that support Steam Cloud must also have a save file written to the cloud by a member of the developer’s partner group.

The screenshot submission process has also received an update. Developers can now categorize screenshots as gameplay, menus, concept art, or in-game cinematics. However, at least five screenshots must still be categorized as gameplay, whether on a PC or the Steam Machine.

Since the list can be difficult to remember, Valve has also added reminders that’ll ensure their games include all the features advertised on their Steam store page. These will help in checking whether the advertised features are actually present in their submitted builds.

These changes come as Valve acknowledges that Steam’s game build review process has been taking longer than expected. The company typically aims to review builds within three to five days, but current delays have pushed the waiting period to as much as 12 business days.

Valve also clarified that much of the backlog comes from having to re-review games because of basic functional issues. It hopes the updated checklist will help developers avoid these issues and make the review process faster.

The delays have already affected several indie developers preparing to release their games on Steam. For example, Studio Daimon’s Food Devils is still awaiting approval for its planned November 3 Early Access launch, despite having submitted its build on October 12, 2026.

For now, we have to wait and see how these changes help improve the review process, as they did with gifting Steam games across regions.