Valve says it has received a significant increase in submissions for Steam store and page reviews in recent months, leaving the process behind schedule. Reviews now take up to 12 business days, compared with the usual three to five, according to a new post from the company.
The delay is partly due to games needing to be reviewed more than once. Valve is revising its release checklist in an effort to reduce repeat reviews caused by basic functional problems. Indie developers have recently complained about lengthy approval waits, which have led some games to miss planned launch dates.
Under the updated checklist, developers must run their games through Steam for at least five minutes. Valve says some submitted builds have not been played through the platform, meaning developers may overlook issues that arise when users install and launch a game through Steam, even if it works when started directly.
Developers must also ensure achievements are ready and confirm that any required shared redistributables, such as DirectX or Visual C++, are included for Steam to install. Valve says further improvements to its build review process are in development.
Sources: The Verge.