A game developer recently took to Reddit with a plea for advice from fellow devs, saying their game still hasn’t been approved for release on Steam even after three years. It turns out that the issue may lie with the game engine they’re using.
To release a game on Steam, developers must submit a build to Valve for review. According to Valve, this process typically takes three to five business days, or up to a week at most. Against that backdrop, the studio’s claim that it has been waiting three years for approval has drawn attention in the community.
The developer in question is MOONLIT JOURNEYS, currently working on AMYGDALA: Prelude, a retro-style horror FPS set in 1990s Australia, where players fight monsters using a variety of firearms.
On April 30, the studio’s founder Iwannaseetheend posted on the r/gamedev subreddit saying that despite submitting their game for review, there has been virtually no progress for the past three years. While they’ve been in contact with Steam support to occasionally provide information that’s asked of them, responses have been slow, sometimes taking months.
Iwannaseetheend says that their team has followed all instructions, yet nothing has moved forward in the process. The game is, in their view, ready for release, but remains stuck in limbo, with only its Wishlist numbers continuing to grow indefinitely. Watching other developers release games in the meantime has left them and their team members increasingly anxious that their own title may never be able to ship.
The catch is, according to the developer, that Steam support informed them that in order to sell AMYGDALA: Prelude, they would need to enter into a commercial agreement with Valve. This appears to be tied to the fact that the game is built using the Source Engine, Valve’s own proprietary engine, used in its in-house titles (like Half Life 2) as well as by some external developers. It’s possible that using the Source Engine is contributing to the delay, as replies from other developers suggest that similar holdups have occurred specifically with Source Engine projects.
While the exact cause remains unclear, the need to complete an additional step, the signing of a commercial agreement (which isn’t usually required to publish on Steam), seems to be a significant bottleneck. The developer says they were sent the necessary documents by Steam support, filled them out, and returned them, but have yet to receive a formal contract, and have had no luck with direct emails either.
In the end, no clear solution has emerged yet. Other developers advised continuing to follow up with support regularly to keep the issue visible. Some even suggested emailing Valve president Gabe Newell directly, as his email address is publicly known, and he’s occasionally known to reply. For now, whether AMYGDALA: Prelude will make it to release remains uncertain (you can play a demo, though). However, other developers considering the Source Engine for their commercial projects might want to look into this case before they decide to fully commit to it.
