Publish a Vibe Coded Game on Steam: Date by Date

To publish a vibe coded game on Steam you need a desktop build, a $100 fee for each game and several weeks of lead time. The waiting periods are fixed, so count back from your launch date before you promise anyone a day.

What does the calendar look like?

Say Lamplighter's Round, an invented game, should launch on Tuesday 9 March 2027. These are the latest possible dates, counted back from Steam's own rules as shown on 2 November 2026:

Latest date	Step	The rule behind it
Fri 15 January	Start onboarding: identity, bank, tax form	Tax checks can take up to 30 days
Tue 16 February	Pay the fee and submit the store page	21 days between fee and release for a first game. Submit at least 7 days ahead. Review typically takes 3 to 5 business days
Tue 23 February	Store page live as "coming soon"	At least 2 weeks
As soon as you can	Upload the build for review, once the store page is submitted	Steam gives no time for this review
Tue 9 March	Press the release button yourself	Approved games do not go out automatically

That calendar has no spare room. One round of review feedback breaks it, so add weeks of your own.

The $100 is not refundable. You get it back in a later payment only once the game has reached $1,000 in Adjusted Gross Revenue, so plan as if it is gone. See making money with a vibe coded game.

What is different for a vibe coded game?

• A browser game needs wrapping. Steam gets a downloadable build, so a game that runs in a browser has to become a desktop program. A common way is Electron, which packs a web game into an app for Windows, Mac or Linux. Phaser's site describes that route. Treat it as a project of its own.
• List only systems you have tried. The review checks that the game starts on every operating system on your store page. If you build on a Mac and list Windows, find a Windows computer.
• Promise only what exists. The store page may only show what is available at launch, every listed feature must be in the build, and screenshots must show real gameplay. In-game purchases must use Steam Wallet.
• Tell the truth about AI. The content survey covers AI used for content that ships and that players consume, such as artwork, sound, narrative and localization. You promise there is nothing illegal or infringing, and that the game matches your marketing. If AI creates content while the game runs, you must also describe your guardrails. The page says efficiency gains from such tools are not the focus, but read it yourself rather than guess.
• Germany needs an age rating. Since 15 November 2024 Steam stops showing games without a valid rating to customers in Germany. Filling in the content questionnaire truthfully is how Steam can give you one.

Paste this to your AI

I want to release this game on Steam. Prepare a readiness report, and change nothing.

1. Draw what happens in the desktop version as a Mermaid diagram: start, play, pause, save, close, and start again. Walk through it and show me where the real game leaves the drawing, for example if closing the window loses progress. If the game only runs in a browser so far, say so and tell me what wrapping it could break.
2. Write the feature list for my store page. Next to each feature, name where it is in the game and what you tried. Anything you cannot show stays off the list.
3. List all art, sound, text and translations made with AI, and where each came from. Write "unknown" if you cannot tell. Do not decide for me what to declare.
4. List the systems you have really tried this build on. Everything else is "not tried".
5. Read the current Steamworks pages on onboarding and review if you can. Quote what you use, and tell me which pages you could not open.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP

How to check it worked

• Run the build on a computer that has never seen your project. A missing file shows up at once.
• Pull the network cable. Does the game still start?
• Close the window in the middle of a level. Then start again and see what survived.
• Read your store page line by line while you play. Each promise should appear in front of you.
• Count the days again after any delay. The waits do not shrink.