Remove games from Steam if they miss their announced release date

[Kerrik]

Developers often set fake or random release dates just to get wishlists and attention, then delay the game endlessly or change the date to “TBA.”
This is unfair to players and hurts the reputation of the store.

If a developer misses the announced release date, their game should be automatically removed from Steam (or at least hidden) along with all collected wishlists.
That would stop developers from abusing the release date system and force them to set realistic deadlines.

Right now, too many games use fake release dates just for marketing — this needs to stop.

[pckirk]

Has nothing to do with Steam. Developers pay for a store front on steam for their product. There is never a guarentee that games will finish development on time or even at all. Nothing is promised, so steam has nothing to do with it, unless they break rules for steam.

Steam will not get involved with development or publishing timelines.

[Reiya]

Originally posted by pckirk:

Has nothing to do with Steam. Developers pay for a store front on steam for their product. There is never a guarentee that games will finish development on time or even at all. Nothing is promised, so steam has nothing to do with it, unless they break rules for steam.

Steam will not get involved with development or publishing timelines.

That and sometimes ♥♥♥♥ just happens. We live in a world in which a tornado can knock power out to a city for a week. Or a hurricane basically levels a studio and sets work back months. Or you know, squirrels might just up and get into a substation and knock power out for the entire day.

[Kerrik]

This isn’t about Valve controlling development — it’s about transparency on the store.

When a developer sets a public release date, it becomes part of their marketing. Players see it, add the game to wishlists, and expect a release around that time.
If the developer never intended to meet that date, that’s misleading advertising — and Steam is responsible for how games are presented on its platform.

Nobody says Valve should interfere with development.
But Steam can enforce basic rules for honesty — for example, penalizing or hiding games that set false release dates just to farm wishlists.
That’s not censorship or interference, it’s maintaining trust between players and the platform.

Originally posted by pckirk:

Has nothing to do with Steam. Developers pay for a store front on steam for their product. There is never a guarentee that games will finish development on time or even at all. Nothing is promised, so steam has nothing to do with it, unless they break rules for steam.

Steam will not get involved with development or publishing timelines.

[Piston Smashed™]

There's been times when a game been forced to be released on a said date and it wasn't ready or still had problems. Instead of waiting until things were sorted it was pushed out, then everyone went ballistic. I'd rather a game be late, than rushed out.

[Reiya]

Originally posted by Piston Smashed™:

There's been times when a game been forced to be released on a said date and it wasn't ready or still had problems. Instead of waiting until things were sorted it was pushed out, then everyone went ballistic. I'd rather a game be late, than rushed out.

I believe it is attributed to Miyamoto, but one man said, "A game delayed is eventually good. A bad game is bad forever."

[Kerrik]

Originally posted by Piston Smashed™:

There's been times when a game been forced to be released on a said date and it wasn't ready or still had problems. Instead of waiting until things were sorted it was pushed out, then everyone went ballistic. I'd rather a game be late, than rushed out.

Then they simply shouldn’t set a specific release date in the first place.
If the game isn’t ready — just use “TBA” or “Coming Soon.”
The problem isn’t delays; the problem is announcing a fake release date just to get attention and then pretending it never happened.
Don’t promise what you can’t deliver — it’s that simple.

[Piston Smashed™]

Originally posted by Kerrik:

Originally posted by Piston Smashed™:

There's been times when a game been forced to be released on a said date and it wasn't ready or still had problems. Instead of waiting until things were sorted it was pushed out, then everyone went ballistic. I'd rather a game be late, than rushed out.

Then they simply shouldn’t set a specific release date in the first place.
If the game isn’t ready — just use “TBA” or “Coming Soon.”
The problem isn’t delays; the problem is announcing a fake release date just to get attention and then pretending it never happened.
Don’t promise what you can’t deliver — it’s that simple.

How many times have you seen products recalled or cars etc with faults because something was wrong and was rushed out?

Life doesn't work to a timetable, nothing in life is that simple...

[Kerrik]

Originally posted by Piston Smashed™:

Originally posted by Kerrik:

Then they simply shouldn’t set a specific release date in the first place.
If the game isn’t ready — just use “TBA” or “Coming Soon.”
The problem isn’t delays; the problem is announcing a fake release date just to get attention and then pretending it never happened.
Don’t promise what you can’t deliver — it’s that simple.

How many times have you seen products recalled or cars etc with faults because something was wrong and was rushed out?

Life doesn't work to a timetable, nothing in life is that simple...

Sure, delays and problems happen — that’s normal.
But again, no one forces developers to announce an exact release date if they’re not sure.

If “life doesn’t work to a timetable,” then don’t pretend it does just to attract wishlists and hype.
Players get frustrated not because a game is delayed, but because developers promise something they clearly can’t deliver.
It’s about honesty, not perfection.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by Kerrik:

Originally posted by Piston Smashed™:

There's been times when a game been forced to be released on a said date and it wasn't ready or still had problems. Instead of waiting until things were sorted it was pushed out, then everyone went ballistic. I'd rather a game be late, than rushed out.

Then they simply shouldn’t set a specific release date in the first place.
If the game isn’t ready — just use “TBA” or “Coming Soon.”
The problem isn’t delays; the problem is announcing a fake release date just to get attention and then pretending it never happened.
Don’t promise what you can’t deliver — it’s that simple.

Extremely unexpected things can, and do happen, even with given expected dates and no expectation of unforseen events happening.

There was a game that was actually released, it was great, out for a short time - but ultimately, one of the things that took it down quite quickly was one of the main programmers was killed in a vehicle accident, no one really wanted to continue after that. the game was free anyway.

That's just one example, there was also things like covid when a lot of people lost their jobs, or got 2 even 3 jobs and had to quit being a Dev to focus on things as it was sudden & unexpected, had nothing happened it would be released on-time.

There may also be when tested extensively before a launch, serious bugs not previously seen or exploits may come up, thus delays can happen. The owning company can also make more demands, decide to hold change the release date etc, and as an owned company they may have no choice.

Ultimately, there's no issue missing a planned release date. Customers often expect nothing but absolutes, in a world full of wildcards, unexpected events etc. Most that put a release date expect to release on it, unless something happens. Good numbers of Indie Devs say "TBA" or "it's ready when it's ready".

Patience is #1, don't be in a hurry to be an early adopter either, a gaming releasing does not mean it will continue development, remain operational, or be good. Sometimes, you wait until after launch to see how things go, to be the most informed consumer possible especially if you're uncertain about a lesser-known Dev.

[Knee]

How does a missed release date hurt you, in your own words?

[Start_Running]

Originally posted by Kerrik:

This isn’t about Valve controlling development — it’s about transparency on the store.

And wghere's the issue. The devs give as much information as they can responsibly give.

Originally posted by Kerrik:

When a developer sets a public release date, it becomes part of their marketing. Players see it, add the game to wishlists, and expect a release around that time.

And then ♥♥♥♥ happens.

Originally posted by Kerrik:

But Steam can enforce basic rules for honesty — for example, penalizing or hiding games that set false release dates just to farm wishlists.

DO you have any evidence devs are actually doing this?
I mean lets be real. The release date is probably the least of the things that gets a game on a wishlist.

People don;t wishlist a game because it's coming soon. They wishlist a game because they think the game looks fun and they'd like to buy it.

[Ben Lubar]

So many threads today about punishing game developers for not releasing their games "soon enough". Was there some YouTube video that prompted these?

Let's say I'm planning on doing something malicious with the projected release date of my game. What can I actually accomplish by setting the release date and then not making it in time? Close to nothing. I can make a few people say "oh, that's too bad" I guess?

[Hikari Light]

Cyberpunk 2077, devs wanted to push back release date due to game not being ready.
They did this several times, due to the game not meeting their expectations.

Players demanded the game be released anyway.

Game released as a terrible buggy mess.

I would rather a game be pushed back several times and release in a good and stable state, than to be released as a buggy mess because it wasn't ready.

[Ben Lubar]

Originally posted by HikariLight:

Cyberpunk 2077, devs wanted to push back release date due to game not being ready.
They did this several times, due to the game not meeting their expectations.

Players demanded the game be released anyway.

Game released as a terrible buggy mess.

I would rather a game be pushed back several times and release in a good and stable state, than to be released as a buggy mess because it wasn't ready.

Soulframe Preludes 11 got delayed a few days. A tiny bit disappointing, but I'd rather have Preludes 10 for a few extra days than have a broken video game while they fix it.

[Nx Machina]

Originally posted by Kerrik:

This isn’t about Valve controlling development

It literally is or did you forget the thread title?

Remove games from Steam if they miss their announced release date

Originally posted by Kerrik:

Sure, delays and problems happen — that’s normal.

Exactly. For example. They may find a issue with the build they intended to upload and why the released date changes as everything is not simply black and white.

That happened with Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms.

Originally posted by Kerrik:

But again, no one forces developers to announce an exact release date if they’re not sure.

Can you be sure tomorrow that xyz will happen. The answer is no you cannot be sure because you expect nothing to change, but suddenly your carefully laid out plans take a turn in the opposite direction.

Originally posted by Kerrik:

If “life doesn’t work to a timetable,” then don’t pretend it does just to attract wishlists and hype.
Players get frustrated not because a game is delayed, but because developers promise something they clearly can’t deliver.
It’s about honesty, not perfection.

Have you ever promised x and it did not happen? Of course you have, we all have at some point in time. Life is not black and white and neither is game development.