First let me just say that I feel your frustration, I have released plenty of incremental games in the past and never had to delay any of them past their original release date, so as you can guess, no one is more frustrated than me.
Although I have not heard anything new from steam, I wanted to post this announcement so that I can answer some questions from you guys and talk a little about the potential reason for the long review time.
First, some questions and comments from you guys:
-What is the game price?: It will be 5$ USD with a 15% release discount. Also look out for the bundles once it's released, perhaps you can get it even cheaper if you own some of my other games.
-Day 1 quality of life patch please: There have been a few content creators who have played my game, and based on their YT video/live stream, there has been some feedback from the viewers. 4 days ago I released a patch that added a plus icon on every skill tree upgrade, this shows up if the player can afford that specific upgrade. Now there is no need to hover over every single upgrade to check which ones you can afford. I also fixed some minor bugs such as the pickaxe stats would display worse stats on a newly crafted pickaxe compared to the previous pickaxe. I also improved some talent cards and The Mine.
-might just be because the 'steam sales' inside the game: So there is an upgrade in the game named "Steam Sale" with a cartoony Gaben face icon and some people have speculated that this is the reason for the delay. I don't think so. Gaben is known for being very cool about stuff like this (unless it's in bad taste) and I also have a steam sale upgrade in my first ever made game, Coin Flipper. If this was the issue, then they would get back to me just like they have done in the past when there has been an issue with any of my previous games.
-Dont think the Dev is being honest. major red flags: I want the game released more than anyone.
Now let's talk a little about the potential reason for the long review time.
I've done some research and it seems like I'm not the only one with this problem. Blue Archive was released on July 4 but with the original release date of June 24. VILE: Exhumed has been in the review process for over a month.
I've also heard that steam has been forced to change their review policies by payment processors. There's the changes with NSFW games, apparently a lot of them are being removed. There was just a big steam sale and the steam automation fest. They also have been working on a lot of stuff such as being able to see the wishlist count update every hour rather than once per day.
This is all speculation, so at the end of the day all we can do is wait. I don't want to trash steam, I love steam. I just want to release it.
Again, thank you guys for your patience.