2 Left Thumbs blames Steam's AI-slop review backlog for Wheel Make It's launch delay

Publisher 2 Left Thumbs delayed Wheel Make It's Steam launch from October 12 to November 1. Steam rejected the game twice, citing co-op and controller accessibility issues. The game peaked at 15 concurrent players despite accumulating over 11,000 wishlists. Steam confirmed the team could not set a new release date during the delay.

Wheel Make It failed review over local co-op accessibility two weeks before launch.
A second rejection on October 21 flagged an inaccessible controller resolution setting.
Approval arrived October 23, eleven days after the planned October 12 release.
Developer Komi Games reported a similar stall, waiting since October 9 for a follow-up.

Steam confirmed the team could not post a new release date during the delay.
2 Left Thumbs shadow-dropped the game on November 1 without pre-release momentum.
Peak concurrent players represented roughly 0.1% of its 11,000+ wishlist total.
The publisher said the stalled relaunch undercut months of demo-driven wishlist momentum.

"We don't want to be gatekeepers telling developers which tools they should or shouldn't use." - Tom Giardino, Steam business team member
Marc Wilkinson said Next Fest exposure turns personalized after two days.
Those remarks announced no dedicated AI filter or added review staffing.
AI-disclosed games grew from 1.7% of releases in January 2024 to 49.9% in October 2026.

For Publishers & Developers: Submit Steam builds for review at least a month before any publicly announced launch date.
For UA & Marketing: Gate launch-week paid bursts and influencer drops on confirmed Steam approval.
For Service Vendors: Pitch pre-submission Steam review-readiness audits to indie publishers with dated launches.