If Steam is fine with the game why is it not back on there?

I'm not sure, maybe it fell under the radar back when it was originally banned so no one was interested in publishing it before GOG, or maybe the publishers are too afraid of the CCP so no one went after the game even if they wanted.
But, with the recent events from GOG, there are people that showed interest in publishing it, like Top Hat Studios and the Zoom Platform, so maybe it's just a matter of time before the game sees the light of day once again.

From what I heard it's because the publisher still holds exclusive rights to releasing it on Steam, but they don't want to do that for obvious reason. Until the deal expires they can't publish it by themselves.

I don't know. Ask the devs. Not me.
It really doesn't change what I said nor Steam's past allowance of release.

I think people should draw a sharp line between:
A.Distribution platforms not seeking game Z ALL BY THEMSELVES
B.Game Z devs not being successfull at signing distribution contracts with undisclosed chunk of existing distribution platforms.

I think after all they went through Devotion devs are cautious of any moves they make and they will likely stay silent about any talks they may be part of for game distribution until it's confirmed to "go through".

Hopefully it will be released SOMEWHERE eventually.
They could even self-publish on their own website. That would obviously attract DDoS from "many 'gamers'" but would ultimately pay off.

I on one hand would wish Playism would publish Devotion (since they already publish Detention) but on the other hand - Playism is a VERY small, indie-focused platform, with rather small IT infrastructure - and since I care about the platform I kind of am afraid it could get DDoS'ed into oblivion and possibly turned to ash :( I hope Playism would publish it, but not at their own cost (well it's a REALLY small platform so they cannot afford vast marketing nor broad IT infrastructure so they would be VERY lucrative target for "many 'gamers'").

That is plausible explanation.
Tho there is this:
https://steamdb.info/app/1006510/history/?changeid=5859638
which I don't know how I should interpret that.

As you can see here:
https://steamdb.info/app/1006510/history/?changeid=5838819
the changed id was here added as the publisher.

So with change 5859638 it looks from all sorts of perspectives like changing publishing rights from that id to developers themsevles.
Tho without official statements it's not official by any means (tho that data IS REAL as far as what is set within Steam store page was set).

Didn't notice when CDPR/GOG started to compete with Bethesda/Blizzard/EA/Activision in selfdestruction, but they're already won. Wow. That was impresive.

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Created this one since there's still no unvote feature on community wishlist:
https://www.gog.com/wishlist/site/tell_the_gog_team_we_arent_appreciating_their_work_anymore

I asked them back in December via DM on Twitter if they are planning to release it on Steam again. They said that they are working on bringing game back, but they can't share any details at the moment. They also added "Kindly give us some time before we could share any confirmed news with our community."

The statement itself doesn't tell much, but together with changes to in steam database, it gives me hope that it will be released again. Maybe a year after the original release?

Any official news from GoG CDPR yet?

PS: any magazine/ jounal pressing for a statement?

Not yet I've asked support to make a statement. Even if they have no plans to release Devotion they should still make a statement.

You aren't the first to ask, but they are successfully ignoring all questions about Devotion so far. So, I doubt there would be any statements.

"Tell the GOG team we aren't appreciating their work anymore" is the 6th most active wish in 7 days. Keep it up! Let's bring it to the top 5 so more people could notice it from the main page of Community Wishlist!

https://www.gog.com/wishlist/site/tell_the_gog_team_we_arent_appreciating_their_work_anymore

GOG is still quiet about this? Tsk Tsk. I guess sitting idly while hoping this cools down is GOG's only course of action, which isn't a surprise given the fact that mods will only respond here when they feel like it.

Make no mistake. It will, it is cooling down already.
As is my relationship as a customer with GOG.
I did hang around until now to see whether and how the situation would improve.
As i already mentioned in the past, if there wouldn't be an improvement i am going to leave GOG behind (i won't keep lurking in these forums either).

So, let's make it short and painless: GOG, so long, and thanks for all the fish.

The publisher no longer exists, Chinese government put them out of business due to the game. The publisher as a Chinese publisher, and Chinese government shut them down.

So I don't buy your explanation at all.

Given that Valve has removed pro-hong kong/anti-Chinese leader games and refused to allow those same kinds of games onto the store, we have every reason to believe that Valve is not allowing this game onto Steam because Valve doesn't want the wrath of Chinese government on to them. Valve has like a third or more of their business coming from China, both from Steam China and for regular Steam where Chinese customers are using a hole in the Great Firewall to buy games. Valve makes China government mad, and they'll kick out Steam China, they'll close the loop hole their citizens are using, which would drop easily 1/3 or more of their revenue.

This is unfortunately an appropriate wishlist entry by now. I really don't appreciate the direction GOG has gone.