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# Steam Review Delays: Publisher Blames AI Slop for Late Launch
- URL: https://www.2ndshift.gg/steam-review-delay-ai-slop-wheel-make-it/
- Published: 2026-11-02T13:12:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-02T13:12:37.000Z
- Description: Wheel Make It missed its October 12 Steam launch, and its publisher blames AI slop in the review queue. Here's the timeline and what Valve has said.
- Author: CJ Davis
- Tags: AI

**A co-op indie called Wheel Make It missed its October 12 Steam launch, finally shipped November 1, and its publisher is blaming a "tidal wave of AI-slop" for clogging Steam's review queue.** Publisher 2 Left Thumbs made the claim on X on November 2, per Power Up Gaming. Valve hasn't confirmed AI submissions caused the delay, so treat this as one publisher's account. But it's the first concrete story we've seen of the AI flood hitting a real game's release date.

## What happened to Wheel Make It

Wheel Make It is a physics game where two players share one wheelchair. Developer tlproductions and 2 Left Thumbs had more than 11,000 wishlists before launch. Here's the timeline Power Up Gaming reported:

- **About two weeks before October 12:** the game goes to Steam for review. Reviewers reject it because they can't find local co-op. The publisher says the answer was sharing a keyboard.
- **October 21:** a second rejection, because the resolution setting couldn't be reached with a controller.
- **October 23:** approved, but the team reportedly couldn't set a replacement date, so the page stayed on "coming soon."
- **November 1:** launch, almost three weeks late. It's $4.99 on Steam, $4.49 with the launch discount when we checked.
- **November 2:** the publisher shares a SteamDB chart with an early peak of 15 concurrent players.

Worth noting: that chart only covers the opening hours, and concurrent players aren't sales.

## What Valve has said about AI on Steam

Valve hasn't commented on this case in the reporting we've seen. At Steam Indie Connect on October 27, Tom Giardino said Valve doesn't want to be "gatekeepers" over developers' tools, and Marc Wilkinson acknowledged Next Fest's random first two days expose some low-quality games. We [covered those comments last week](https://www.2ndshift.gg/valve-steam-ai-clones-response/). No AI filter was announced, even though players keep asking for a way to hide generative AI games.

## The 2nd Shift take

Be fair to both sides. The two rejections listed here were about the game itself, and "can't find co-op" is a real onboarding problem. Nobody has shown that AI games caused them. But "no gatekeeping" has a cost, and small teams pay it. If store review really is slowing down, the people who get hurt are the ones with one shot at a launch window and 11,000 wishlists to convert.

If you're shipping on Steam, build slack into your date and test every setting on a controller before you submit. Not sure where you fit as a creator in all this? Take the [CRAFTR Quiz](https://www.2ndshift.gg/quiz/).

Got a Steam review horror story? Bring it to the [2nd Shift Discord](https://discord.gg/SbzeqKvGVA?ref=2ndshift.gg).

**Keep reading:** [Valve on Steam AI clones: no new rules](https://www.2ndshift.gg/valve-steam-ai-clones-response/) · [Tim Sweeney vs Steam AI disclosures](https://www.2ndshift.gg/tim-sweeney-steam-ai-disclosure/)

*Sources:* [*Power Up Gaming*](https://powerupgaming.co.uk/2026/11/02/indie-publisher-says-steams-ai-flooded-backlog-derailed-its-games-launch/?ref=2ndshift.gg)*,* [*2 Left Thumbs on X*](https://x.com/2%5Fleft%5Fthumbs/status/2117053876356383065?ref=2ndshift.gg)*,* [*Wheel Make It on Steam*](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4213320/Wheel%5FMake%5FIt/?ref=2ndshift.gg)