[2020] Theory on why there's a "shortage of keys"

Edit: As of 8/21 - 9am PST, Metamoth has done an interview, and has addressed this theory.According to him, backers are receiving Standard keys, and only partners received override keys.However, it is worth noting that in the same interview, Metamoth was by his own admission, kept in the dark about the amount and availability of keys. So, it is not unreasonable to assume he is also in the dark about the types of keys being given. I have no reason to distrust metamoth personally, but I also don't have a reason to believe he has all the facts at his disposal either.

With that being said, had the entire dev team behaved themselves as Metamoth has following this debacle, there would be no need for speculation and theorycraft such as this post.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I believe I found out what the real reason for the delay is.

There are three types of steam keys.Standard - This is your run of the mill key. Nothing special about them.Release Override - This is used to provide influencers, press, and SMALL groups of beta testers with keys when a game has not yet released on steam as a full release or early access. These keys are manually reviewed.Dev keys - Self explanitory.

Given that Qi has stated Valve is manually reviewing their keys, and they have not officially released on steam yet, it means they're trying to obtain release override keys, NOT standard keys. Now, this is speculation, but I believe Qi is intending to release on a standalone platform in the future, and is using steam as an in-between until then, as doing so would mean they could circumvent the 30% cut Valve would take.

Valve looks at their request of 40,000 override keys, knows they're trying to circumvent Valve's cut of the sales by "releasing" their game on steam without actually releasing it. And so they deny them. Which is why we have no keys. Valve wants them to release on early access so they can get a cut. Qi doesn't want to pay them, because they want to release standalone later.

Again, speculation. But, it is an explanation for running out of virtual keys. And, it's the only method available that would require manual review on the part of steam.

The three types of steam keys you can obtain as a developer.