Indie horror dev has been waiting three years for Steam approval - apparently because they used Source engine

A solo developer has reportedly been stuck in Steam's approval limbo for three years, with the suspected culprit being an unlikely one - Valve's own Source engine. According to Kotaku, the horror game Amygdala: Prelude has been sitting in review since 2022 with no resolution in sight.

The developer, who built the game using Source (the same engine powering Half-Life 2, Portal, and countless other Valve titles), suspects that using Valve's own technology may actually be what's flagging the submission. Steam's automated review systems appear to have difficulty processing games built on Source when submitted by third-party developers, creating a catch-22 that's hard to even appeal effectively.

Three years in queue

What makes the situation particularly frustrating is the lack of communication. The developer has reportedly received little to no meaningful feedback from Valve about what's causing the holdup or how to resolve it. For a solo dev, three years of being unable to sell or distribute your finished product through the world's largest PC gaming storefront is a serious blow to both finances and morale.

Steam's approval process has long been a pain point for indie developers. While Valve introduced Steam Direct back in 2017 to replace Greenlight and streamline submissions, the system still has significant blind spots - particularly around edge cases that don't fit neatly into its automated pipelines.

A systemic problem

This isn't just an isolated headache for one developer. It highlights a broader issue with how Valve handles support for the tens of thousands of developers on its platform. The company is famously lean on staff relative to the scale of Steam, which means edge cases like this can fall through the cracks for an extraordinarily long time.

For horror games specifically - a genre that already faces additional scrutiny in the review process due to content concerns - navigating Steam's approval system can be especially unpredictable. Adding a technical quirk like the Source engine issue on top of that creates a nearly impossible situation to resolve without direct human intervention from Valve.

As of the Kotaku report, Amygdala: Prelude remains unapproved and unlaunched. The developer hasn't given up, but three years is a long time to wait on a platform that markets itself as open to independent creators.