Putting a game up on Steam right now comes with some challenges. For a start, AI has made copycats much more rampant, making it even harder to stand out, and that's after you manage to slowly get approved for release thanks to a gigantic game backlog at Valve. In response to the latter, an ex-higher up at Square Enix believes the platform needs to buck up to fulfill its responsibilities.
In a post on Steam, Valve acknowledges current delays around game approvals and says it's working on ways to speed things up. "We're running a little behind right now and taking up to 12 business days," the company says. "Much of that delay is due to having to re-review games, which isn't great for you or for us."
Jacob Navok, former executive at Square Enix, responded to this news on Twitter. "Steam generates 3x the revenue of Roblox while Roblox has up to 1000x more games released per day than Steam," he says. "Yet Roblox games release in seconds via an automated review system and Steam takes weeks."
Steam generates 3x the revenue of Roblox while Roblox has up to 1000x more games released per day than Steam. Yet Roblox games releases in seconds via an automated review system and Steam takes weeks.
The problem is not AI games increasing the number of Steam reviews. This is bullshit being sold to you. The problem is Steam is derelict of its duty.
Roblox has invested billions into app review process. When you build a product your assets are uploaded into the system as you are building, so you don't get some sudden rejection at the time of release. They have spent a lot of money on R&D and AI systems that analyze and detect problematic content, and also have appeal systems.
Valve takes 30% from you as a developer but has spent nothing to invest into the systems required to handle content reviews. Absolutely shameful.November 4, 2026
This definitely isn't a one-to-one comparison. Roblox projects are made in the game platform itself and it has moderation issues of its own. Automation may be efficient, but it's prone to abuse once bad actors understand what's more likely to get dinged. Also: the firehose of slop that is Roblox is not the model Valve wants to emulate, especially as it actively seeks to control its own slop infestation.
Nonetheless, the point stands that Valve could pump more resources into this aspect of the storefront. "The problem is not AI games increasing the number of Steam reviews. This is bullshit being sold to you," Navok continues. "The problem is Steam is derelict of its duty."
Releases leaning on gen AI are exacerbating existing strain on Steam's systems. The amount of games coming out was steadily increasing even before vibe coding accelerated the amount of games and outright slop getting pushed onto the conveyor belts.
That being said, the solution doesn't seem as simple as Navok makes it out to be in a reply: "Moderation is a solvable problem if they invest billions into it."
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/steam-is-derelict-of-its-duty-says-ex-square-enix-exec-as-valve-struggles-with-game-approvals-everything-for-gabens-navy
