Some indie games are missing their Steam launch day because Valve's review queue is backed up. FuRyu's CRYMELIGHT came out on PS5 and Switch 2 on November 5 but still isn't on Steam, and the co-op game Wheel Make It slipped from October 12 to November 1. Valve says it's seeing a "significant increase" in games sent in for review.
What's going on
| Valve says | "A significant increase in submissions for store page and build review in recent months." Reviews can take up to 12 business days |
| CRYMELIGHT (FuRyu) | Out on PS5 and Switch 2 ($19.99). Steam version missed its November 5 launch, no new date yet |
| Wheel Make It (2 Left Thumbs) | Moved from October 12 to November 1 after review trouble |
| The AI question | The Wheel Make It publisher blamed a "tidal wave of AI-slop." Valve hasn't said AI is the cause |
What is Valve's review, anyway?
Every game on Steam gets checked by Valve before it goes live. There are two parts. First the store page, the screenshots, trailer and description. Then the build, the actual game. Valve makes sure it launches, works the way the store page says, and doesn't break the rules.
It's not a quality check. Valve isn't deciding if your game is good. It's more like a safety and accuracy check. But if something fails, the developer has to fix it and send it back in, and that puts it back in the queue. Valve has said that re-reviews are part of why things are slow right now.
Usually this takes a few days and nobody notices. Now Valve says it can take up to 12 business days. That's more than two weeks on the calendar, and if a game fails once, it can easily blow past a launch date.
CRYMELIGHT: out on consoles, stuck on Steam
CRYMELIGHT is FuRyu's dark, Alice in Wonderland-style roguelite. It was supposed to launch everywhere on November 5. The PS5 and Switch 2 versions went out on time. The Steam version didn't.
FuRyu says it sent the game to Valve about a month before launch and had been fixing the issues Valve raised ever since. It still wasn't approved in time. FuRyu apologized, bumped the Steam launch discount from 10% to 20% to make up for it, and kept the Steam demo up until the full game is out. There's no new PC date yet.
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
So if you want to play it right now, it's console only. It's on Switch 2 and PS5 for $19.99.
Wheel Make It: three weeks late, 15 players
Wheel Make It had it worse. It was due October 12 and didn't come out until November 1. The publisher, 2 Left Thumbs, says Valve's reviewers first rejected it because they couldn't figure out how to get into the local co-op. Then it had to wait in the queue again.
The publisher blamed the slowdown on a "tidal wave of AI-slop" clogging Valve's queue. Valve hasn't said that. It's only said submissions are way up. Either way, the delay hurt. The game had over 11,000 wishlists, but it peaked at just 15 players at the same time after launch. That's players online at once, not total sales, but it's still rough for a game people were waiting on. The publisher says Steam told them missing the original date wouldn't hurt the game's visibility.
Not every delay is the queue
Edge of Memories also got pushed, to December 3. But that one has nothing to do with Valve's review. Publisher Nacon moved it because the end of the year is packed with big releases, and it didn't want to get buried. Its Steam page now shows December 3.
Like this kind of news? Get the WIZY weekly: one email every Sunday, no spam.
What it means for indie games
For small studios, launch day matters a lot. That's when wishlists turn into sales and when Steam pushes new games to people. Missing it, or launching weeks late with the hype gone, can hurt a lot more than it would for a big game.
The lesson so far seems to be: get the game to Valve way earlier than you think, and make it dead simple for a reviewer to test. If your game has local co-op, tell them exactly how to start it. FuRyu sent theirs in a month early and it still wasn't enough.
For players it mostly means a few PC dates might slip this holiday season. If a game you want is late on Steam, check whether it's out on console. And if you play on PC away from your desk, the Steam Deck OLED is a good way to catch up once these finally land. For local co-op games like Wheel Make It, a couple of extra PC controllers help too.
FAQ
Why is CRYMELIGHT not on Steam?
It didn't pass Valve's pre-release review in time. FuRyu says it's working to finish the review as fast as possible. There's no new date yet.
How long does Steam review take?
Valve says it can take up to 12 business days right now because of a big jump in submissions.
Is AI causing the Steam review delays?
One publisher says so, but Valve hasn't said that. It's only confirmed a big increase in submissions.
Is Edge of Memories delayed because of Steam?
No. Nacon moved it to December 3 because of the busy release schedule.
Sources
- Automaton: CRYMELIGHT misses Steam launch date due to review delay automaton-media.com
- Kotaku: Devs are being forced to delay their games on Steam kotaku.com
- Dexerto: Publisher blames AI slop on Steam as game gets 15 players at launch dexerto.com
- Gematsu: Edge of Memories delayed to December 3 gematsu.com
Written by the WIZY creator
A lifelong gamer and Warhammer painter, and the maker of the WIZY RPG game. I write about games, hardware, Warhammer and crypto in plain English, and I check every fact against its source.
