Wheel Make It Publisher Blames Steam Approval Delay for Troubled Launch Despite 11,000 Wishlists

Wheel Make It, a physics-focused co-op comedy game about propelling wheelchair-bound characters through chaotic courses, has had a difficult start on Steam. Publisher 2 Left Thumbs says the game's release was badly affected by a delay in Valve's approval process, arguing that a planned October 12 launch lost its momentum after the title was ultimately cleared on October 25 and released on November 1.

The publisher pointed to the contrast between the game's pre-release interest and its immediate player numbers. Wheel Make It had accumulated more than 11,000 wishlists, but SteamDB data showed a 24-hour peak of only 15 concurrent players shortly after launch, with three players online at the time those figures were checked. The game had also received 11 user reviews, 90% of which were positive.

For a small independent game, a modest Steam launch is hardly unusual. Thousands of games arrive on the PC storefront every year without attracting a major audience, and wishlists do not automatically translate into day-one purchases. Still, 2 Left Thumbs believes the unusual timing of Wheel Make It's launch made that conversion far more difficult than it otherwise might have been.

A launch date lost in the review process

The central complaint is not that Wheel Make It failed to become a breakout hit. Rather, 2 Left Thumbs says Steam's review timeline prevented the team from releasing on the date around which it had organized its promotion.

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The publisher had expected the game to arrive on October 12. Instead, it says the title was held up in Steam's approval process and was not approved until October 25. With the original date gone and no ability to formally present a replacement release date on the store page, the eventual November 1 launch effectively became a shadow drop.

"The real point here is simply that the delayed launch shattered the momentum we had been building up," 2 Left Thumbs said in a social-media reply. "And without the ability to formally set a new date, we had to effectively shadow-drop. That would have harmed the launch of just about any game!"

The publisher had previously said it was assured that missing the intended launch because of Steam's queue would not change the usual systems governing release visibility. It disputes that conclusion after seeing Wheel Make It's early performance, framing the low player count as evidence that the game's discoverability and pre-launch anticipation did not survive the delay.

An October 12 post from developer tlproductions provides more detail on the issue. The game failed at least one review check. In an October 21 update, the developer said Steam flagged a controller-accessibility issue: a single resolution option in the settings menu could not be reached with a controller. The team said this was a new reason for rejection that had not been identified earlier in the process.

The problem was reportedly addressed immediately, but the developer said it still had to wait for the change to be acknowledged and approved. Steam also confirmed that the studio would not be permitted to set another launch date, leaving the team in a difficult position once the original date had passed.

Concerns over Steam's review backlog

2 Left Thumbs has linked its experience to a wider concern among developers: that Steam's review process may be under increasing pressure from a flood of low-effort AI-assisted submissions and copycat games.

The publisher said it assumed Steam's review system had become heavily backed up while filtering through "thousands" of AI-generated or AI-aided games. It stressed that the resulting release position was especially damaging because Wheel Make It no longer had a publicly displayed upcoming date or the usual opportunity to build toward a clear release-day event.

There is no confirmed public measure showing precisely how much AI-assisted game development has extended Steam's approval times. The scale of any direct effect remains uncertain. Valve has acknowledged broader issues involving AI material and cloned games on Steam, while developers have increasingly shared anecdotes about longer waits for reviews, particularly around major Steam Next Fest periods.

The October Steam Next Fest took place only weeks before Wheel Make It's release troubles and drew attention for the sheer number of participating games. Events of that size are valuable opportunities for developers, but they also place additional demands on a storefront that must process store pages, builds, policy checks, controller claims, assets, and other submission requirements.

Another developer, Komi Games, recently described a similar wait involving Infested DX. Komi Games said it submitted the game for review on October 9, received a request for a small revision on October 21, made the change immediately, and then had not received a follow-up approval. That account does not prove a single cause for the delay, but it reflects the same concern: small teams can be left unable to finalize launch plans while a submission remains in limbo.

The increase in game-page creation across PC storefronts may also be contributing to a tougher environment. Itch.io said on October 31 that the number of new game pages created per day had doubled over the previous two months, apparently boosted by AI-related activity. Steam and Itch.io operate differently, but both are open platforms facing the challenge of handling much larger volumes of submissions.

Steam's published guidance versus developer experience

Steamworks documentation says store-presence reviews typically take three to five business days. Valve also advises developers to submit pages at least seven business days before they need them to go live, allowing time for potential changes.

That is a reasonable baseline for a routine submission, but it can quickly become inadequate when a project needs revisions or a second review. Wheel Make It's experience illustrates the risk. A developer may believe its game is ready, submit it near the recommended window, receive a late request for a small fix, and then find the intended launch date impossible to preserve.

For an independent team, that is not merely an administrative inconvenience. Marketing campaigns are often planned around a single date. Creators schedule videos, streamers may be contacted ahead of time, demo players are asked to wishlist, social posts are prepared, and prospective buyers are conditioned to return on launch day. If that date disappears without a clearly visible replacement, the accumulated attention can scatter.

2 Left Thumbs has also acknowledged that approval timing is not necessarily the only explanation for Wheel Make It's opening numbers. Some players suggested that the game's concept may be too niche or that it may not have stood out strongly enough in an overcrowded marketplace.

"We're not pretending this is an elite indie gem that the world is being deprived of, or that we should be topping charts," the publisher said. "It's friendslop, made by a small team of devs who thought it'd be fun."

The publisher nevertheless said the demo response, wishlist total, and momentum it had seen before October 12 suggested a better launch was possible. It also conceded that some potential buyers may simply have chosen not to spend $5 on the game when release finally arrived.

Tim Sweeney's unexpected reaction

The dispute also drew an unexpected reaction from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. 2 Left Thumbs shared a screenshot showing that Sweeney liked its post criticizing Valve over the delay.

The publisher said it found the interaction "very unexpected and genuinely hilarious," while clarifying that it did not see its argument as simple Steam-bashing. Its frustration, it said, was directed primarily at the growing volume of generative-AI-driven low-effort submissions that it believes may be burdening review queues.

That distinction is notable given Sweeney's public support for generative AI. Epic Games and Valve are prominent competitors in the PC distribution space, so any visible engagement from Epic's CEO with criticism of Steam naturally attracts attention. In this case, however, 2 Left Thumbs emphasized that Valve's individual support staff had been professional throughout the process.

The publisher said it had held a lengthy back-and-forth with Steam support in recent weeks, that the team listened to its concerns, and that staff were clear about Steam's position even where the publisher disagreed with the result.

A difficult lesson for small Steam releases

Wheel Make It's launch will likely be viewed as one small example of a larger problem facing PC developers: discoverability is already difficult, and procedural uncertainty can make it harder still. The game's early review score indicates that at least some players have enjoyed it, but strong sentiment from a small initial group does not solve the challenge of reaching customers after launch momentum has faded.

Valve has suggested that developers can protect themselves from AI clones by avoiding reliance on a single easily replicated mechanic, while also encouraging reports of extortion to law enforcement. Those comments address a different but connected side of the platform's AI and imitation problem. For teams such as tlproductions, the more immediate concern is whether the systems meant to safeguard Steam can process legitimate small releases quickly enough to preserve their carefully planned launches.

There is not enough public information to assign Wheel Make It's performance solely to Steam's review queue, AI-assisted submissions, or any one storefront policy. A game's results depend on many variables: its concept, price, audience, marketing reach, timing, competition, reviews, and the unpredictable behavior of Steam users.

But the case does underline why review timelines matter. For a small co-op game that had built more than 11,000 wishlists, the difference between a planned release date and an unannounced delayed launch may be enormous. Whether Valve changes the process or the communication around delayed approvals, Wheel Make It's publisher believes the current system left its game arriving after the moment it had spent months trying to create.