Valve said on November 3 that pre-release build reviews on Steam are currently taking up to 12 business days. The company normally aims to complete them within three to five days. Submissions for both store pages and builds have increased significantly in recent months, while repeat reviews account for much of the delay.
An updated Steamworks checklist now requires at least five minutes of playtime after launching a game through Steam’s green Play button. Playtime from any user counts if it falls within the past seven days, or since the latest build when that was uploaded earlier. Valve wants developers to catch incorrect launch options and missing content depots before submitting.
Developers must also specify required redistributables, such as DirectX or Visual C++, or confirm that none are needed. Games advertising Steam Cloud must have a save file written to the service by a member of the partner group. Additional checks flag incomplete achievement settings and cloud synchronisation left in developer mode.
Store pages need at least five screenshots categorised as gameplay. Developers can now also include menu images, concept art and in-game cinematic screenshots when labelled correctly. Submission reminders cover promised languages and features, with a field for credentials reviewers need to access multiplayer. Valve says further changes to the review process and its documentation are coming.
