How long Steam's store page review takes
5 min read
By Eduardo Orellana ·
Valve's store page review usually takes 3 to 5 business days, and Valve asks you to submit at least seven business days before you want the page live. The build review is separate, also typically 3 to 5 business days, and Valve says to plan for seven; the store page must be submitted before the build. Price review usually takes one or two business days, and an optional Steam Deck compatibility review about a week. Pages with adult content need both the page and the build submitted first and can take longer. Approval does not publish the page: you press Post as Coming Soon, and the page must then be up two weeks before release.
Plan for a week, and for a rejection
Three to five business days is the usual time, but a page that comes back with a fix to make goes back into the queue. Valve's seven-business-day lead time already allows for that once. If your date is fixed, by a festival, a showcase or a press embargo, submit earlier still.
The obvious mistake is to treat review as the last step before going live. It is better treated as the first step of a schedule that runs backwards from launch: paperwork, fee, store page review, two weeks of Coming Soon, build review, release. Each review is short; missing one by a day can cost a week.
Every review, and how long each takes
The reviews a Steam release passes through, with Valve's own figures:
| Review | Typical time | Plan for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperwork verification | 15–30 days | Start first | Identity, tax, bank; once per developer account |
| Store page | 3–5 business days | 7 business days ahead | Must be submitted before the build |
| Build | 3–5 business days | 7 business days | Updates after approval are not reviewed again |
| Price | 1–2 business days | With the store page | Every currency; changes reviewed too |
| Demo (store presence and build) | Its own review | Like the game | A separate app with its own checklist |
| Trading cards | 3–5 business days | Optional | Feedback through the tool |
| Steam Deck compatibility | About a week | Optional | Results publish automatically a week later |
| Adult content | Longer than usual | Submit page and build together | Both must be submitted before the page is reviewed |
What reviewers check on a store page
Valve's Review Process documentation lists the store page checks:
- Only content available at launch. Planned or incomplete features are removed, or clearly marked as not yet released.
- Capsules with a readable title or logo, and no other text than the name and an official subtitle.
- Screenshots that show gameplay, not concept art, pre-rendered cinematics or marketing text.
- A detailed, coherent description with no links to other websites.
- Early Access pages that answer every Early Access question.
And on the build: it starts on every operating system the page lists, every feature the page describes is in it, and in-game purchases use the Steam Wallet with no links to stores that do not.
What gets pages sent back
- Capsules with text beyond the title: quotes, awards, scores, "Early Access".
- Screenshots that are not gameplay: concept art, cinematics, marketing copy.
- Links to other sites in the description, QR codes, or images that mimic Steam's buttons.
- Another Steam game shown or named.
- Features described that are not in the build.
- An incomplete content survey, a survey that does not match the build, or a missing required field.
Each is fixable in minutes, which is the case for running a checklist before submitting rather than learning them from a rejection. Our Steam page checklist lists them all.
What makes a review take longer
Valve's typical times are for a complete, compliant submission in an ordinary week. Four things stretch them:
- A rejection. The fixed page goes back into the queue, so one round of feedback can double the wait.
- Adult content. Valve needs both the store page and the build before reviewing the page, and these reviews can take longer than usual.
- Busy periods. Submissions pile up ahead of big deadlines such as Next Fest's, when thousands of demos and pages arrive at once; give yourself extra margin then.
- An incomplete checklist. Mark as Ready for Review only works when every required item is done; a missing content survey or capsule stops the submission before review starts.
If your page is sent back
Valve's feedback names what to change. Fix exactly that, check the rest of the page against the same rule (a capsule rejected for text usually means the other capsules need checking too), and resubmit the same day. Do not argue a borderline call if the deadline matters more than the point; adjust and resubmit. If the feedback is unclear, ask through Steamworks support, and keep the message short and specific.
A schedule that never waits on review
Counted back from a launch day, with a margin for one rejection at each step:
- Ten to twelve weeks out: paperwork submitted and the Steam Direct fee paid (a first title waits 30 days after the fee).
- As early as the page is ready: store page submitted, seven business days before you want it public, then Post as Coming Soon. Months of Coming Soon collect wishlists.
- Six weeks out: near-final build submitted, with seven business days planned and a week of margin.
- Four weeks out: prices submitted if not already approved; the launch discount decided.
- Two weeks out at the latest: the release date is locked and the page has been Coming Soon for at least two weeks.
- Launch day: press Release App; approved games do not release on their own.
After approval
Approval does not publish anything. An approved store page waits until you press Post as Coming Soon; an approved game waits until you press Release App. Once a game is approved, later updates to its build are not reviewed again, so patches can ship the same day. Store page edits after approval are published by you. Some content survey answers lock after approval and need Steam Support to change.
Where Flockbay fits
Flockbay's Steam page checks its draft against Valve's rules as it writes (capsule text, screenshot content, description rules) and exports a .zip you upload yourself, so the first submission is the one that passes. Preparing the page by hand and its .zip are free; drafting is free in beta until 1 December 2026.
Questions
- How long does Steam take to approve a store page?
- Usually 3 to 5 business days. Valve asks for at least seven business days of lead time.
- How long does Steam build review take?
- Typically 3 to 5 business days; Valve says to plan for at least seven. The store page must be submitted before the build can be.
- Does approval make my Steam page public?
- No. After approval you press Post as Coming Soon to publish the page, and later Release App to release the game.
- Does Valve review my store page again when I edit it?
- Not the ordinary edits. After release you save and publish changes yourself from the Publish tab, and they appear on the store page as soon as you publish. The rules still apply, and the game's name cannot be changed after pre-release review.
- Are game updates reviewed by Valve?
- No. Once a game is approved, later builds are not reviewed again, so updates can ship whenever you push them.