ⓘ Abdullahi Mohamud / Unsplash, Valve (played)
Valve is apparently feeling the effects of the wave of AI-generated games on Steam firsthand (in German). The company says it is currently experiencing a backlog in reviewing new proposals, with the process now taking up to 12 days instead of the usual three to five. This may also explain why Valve updated its review process on November 3.
According to Valve, the longer processing times are partly due to the games not passing basic technical checks. “We sometimes review builds that have never been played via Steam,” the company explains. This is precisely where the new requirement comes into play. The release checklist for new Steam games now includes a step that requires at least five minutes of gameplay via Steam. The idea is to make sure developers verify that their games actually run on Steam before submitting them for review.
The announcement hit Reddit a lot. Many commentators blame the growing number of submissions on the influx of mass-produced AI games and call on Valve to take stronger action. However, it is unclear whether Valve will introduce stricter entry requirements. As Valve employees Tom Giardino and Marc Wilkinson explained, the company instead wants to address the problem through its recommendation algorithms. Some community members support this approach, fearing that stricter rules could also hurt small independent studios and prevent interesting games from reaching the store. Feel free to share your thoughts on the matter in the comments below.
As a child in the 90s, my Gameboy was my constant companion. After school, the PlayStation turned on. When I finally got my first PC, I was completely hooked. Since then my passion for video games has never waned. For me, writing for Notebookcheck means reporting on topics that are really close to my heart: in addition to games, I also like to write about electric mobility, photovoltaics and innovative gadgets. When I’m not sitting at the computer, I’m probably on water rescue duty on the Baltic coast or trying to counteract the downsides of my geek life of sitting for long periods at the local swimming pool.
