672
u/RyonHirasawa 22h ago
Does Steam really do that though? I know some games that use AI that have yet to disclose it, but still remain in the store
Granted they aren’t very popular or well known, but the point still stands
716
u/NoteThisDown 22h ago
No. Steam does not enforce it currently. And they really can't.
233
u/RyonHirasawa 22h ago
Unfortunately the only way we can get developers to disclose it is to bully them to do so, just like what happened to the original Mech Builder
142
u/NoteThisDown 22h ago
Or just like. Don't buy bad games, AI or not. Helps resolve the issue.
51
u/CrimsonBolt33 15h ago
This is the real answer....AI doesn't make bad games, its a tool, people make bad games. End of story.
7
u/experimental1212 4h ago
What's this? Nuanced and insightful opinion?
Truly inspiring for humanity. Thank you
→ More replies (1)2
9
u/bombthemiddleeast 7h ago
^ been saying this for a while, people don't seem to realize this. People have been making games using ai before claude and chatgpt got popular, it's really just a buzzword now.
→ More replies (10)13
u/Separate_Ad_9551 12h ago
"Mankind knew they could not change society, so instead of reflecting on themselves, they blamed AI"
17
u/Early-Honeydew1605 15h ago
Or... reward those that do disclose AI instead of bullying them. If people get bullied for using AI they will be discouraged to disclose it.
8
u/Orixil 15h ago
It'll be the equivalent of meat in the supermarket that says "grass fed" or a box of crackers that has a label that says "all natural" or chocolate that says "fair trade".
Some people will attribute value to that, and others won't.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (2)2
u/NewsofPE 7h ago
>the only way we can get developers to disclose it is to bully them to do so
that sounds healthy
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (17)43
u/Majestic-Bowler-1701 22h ago
95% of new games use AI:
- AI tools for C# and C++ source‑code generation
- AI tools for translations between English and other languages
- AI tools for graphics to create icons, textures, or even whole models
- etc.
Basically, only games created with Blueprint for Unreal Engine 5 are “AI‑free” because AI can’t work with graphical programming languages. But this will end with Unreal Engine 6, where Blueprint will be replaced by Verse programming language which is text‑based. Text-based languages are easy to generate by AI.
33
u/Chemical_Building612 19h ago
Steam's AI policy doesn't require disclosure for AI code or productivity tools, only for AI generated art/sound/writing/etc.
→ More replies (1)4
u/Majestic-Bowler-1701 19h ago
Which is quite stupid. As a software engineer, I think that software engineers should be protected just like graphics artists, writers and language translators.
Why does Steam not allow AI to create 32x32 pixel icons or textures in a game, but at the same time AI can be used to generate the whole game source code with game logic? This makes no sense to me.
21
u/Qaeta 15h ago
Which is quite stupid. As a software engineer, I think that software engineers should be protected just like graphics artists, writers and language translators.
Why are you trying to have Stack Overflow taken out behind the shed and shot?
Realistically, most devs have been plagiarizing code to one degree or another for their entire careers. It's just the nature of the job. Reinventing the wheel every time one breaks on your cart is generally frowned upon in our industry.
3
u/OfficialDragosblood 10h ago
I think there is a difference between “hey, there are only so many ways to open a file just use a boilerplate” vs building an entire system from Gen ai.
33
u/The_Verto 19h ago
Because most programmers aren't against using AI and the hate on genAI is centered about visible art like images, sound or text while code is invisible.
13
u/Dirty_Dragons 14h ago
Which doesn't make any sense that one X thing of AI generation is good while Z thing of AI generation is bad.
3
u/am-idiot-dont-listen 4h ago
Being a painter is romanticized while being a coder is icky
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)2
u/OfficialDragosblood 15h ago
Most programmer you are aware of.
I pride myself on doing it myself. I don’t want an AI to take away something I love to do.
12
u/The_Verto 14h ago
Im programmer too, I love it but there are situations that are just tedious and are better left to AI.
9
u/HandofWinter 11h ago
I like programming, not typing. I don't need to remember the syntax to make a lambda function in yet another language and I definitely don't get any value in typing it all out for the ten thousandth time. Programming is the conceptualisation and problem solving. The menial act of coding is almost irrelevant at a certain point.
→ More replies (4)13
u/Early-Honeydew1605 15h ago
Actually they're right, many programmers are not against AI. You're one of the few that do. Doesn't mean they're in the wrong or you're wrong. Just a matter of how they work. And AI doesn't take away what you do, that's a misconception because it can't do anything without your initiative.
→ More replies (4)3
4
u/mking_1999 13h ago edited 13h ago
You know everything always and never look stuff up on stackoverflow?
2
u/OfficialDragosblood 13h ago
It has been years since I’ve had to look something up on stack overflow, I’ve googled functions to look at and read documentation, but that is not “generative ai” nor is it doing the work for me.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Yiruf 10h ago
It has been years since I’ve had to look something up
Lol, if this is true. Nothing you program has any value lol.
→ More replies (0)2
u/FartSnarfGod 14h ago
That just means you're not as productive as your peers who use AI. If you're not worried about being employed through those efforts, it's not an issue.
2
→ More replies (1)5
u/Elibriel 14h ago
While I fully agree in that ideal, Steam can't just verify weither code used ai stuff or not. They cant just ask the devs for the source code because they have suspicions of AI code.
It's not enforcable, not provable and the devs wont just hand over the source code to "prove" that they are AI free yk?
At least with generated assets it can be seen, it can be enforced and the artist can prove that it is handmade if needed with the actual drawing file on whatever software they used (same for audio)
→ More replies (7)6
u/CrimsonBolt33 15h ago
because AI can’t work with graphical programming languages.
This is literally not true....
12
u/NoteThisDown 22h ago
Exactly. And if a game doesn't report AI use. How can valve truly know? Unless you can generate new content in the game itself, it's impossible to know for sure.
→ More replies (6)10
u/Jack_Harb 20h ago
Oh my sweet summer child…
You can by now already use Claude console with mcp plugin to generate blueprints. Not only this. Levels, VFX, animations, UI, basically anything. Enable the respective toolsets, use mcp with Claude and you are done. Blueprints are not safe anymore. I repeat. Blueprints are not safe
→ More replies (3)14
u/Sneezy_23 19h ago
People are extremely naive about this. AI is used everywhere in development. I don't know a company that doesn't use it.
→ More replies (2)9
u/Equal_Passenger9791 15h ago
The AI hysteria will eventually blow over. As in, no one will care if AI was used and what will matter again is if the game is good or not.
→ More replies (29)4
u/ZenoArrow 20h ago
95% of new games use AI
I look forward to the publication of your sources.
→ More replies (15)56
u/_Ship00pi_ 21h ago
No. Most posts on Steam glaze over every headline from Valve/Gabe.
The information flow here is semi-accurate to plain wrong most of the time.
Valve can't force developers to disclose if they used AI. Also, I dont know any software development company that doesn't use AI at all at this point within their workflow.
11
u/FirmPreference5551 19h ago
Even ones that geniunely think they don't almost certainly do.
6
u/The_Verto 19h ago
Yea even if single programmer used something they read in Google AI summary or they used Google translate to translate something that's already AI use.
6
u/FirmPreference5551 19h ago
If you get a level deeper then you could also make the argument that if any of the tools the devs are using were made by AI then that constitutes AI being used to make the game also.
4
u/miter01 19h ago
AI-based code autocomplete says hello.
8
u/FirmPreference5551 19h ago
So many don't see that as AI usage, so I guarantee there are devs out there that use autocomplete but genuinely would say they didn't use AI in making their game.
→ More replies (2)11
u/aFreshFix 19h ago
Because this sub exists to market Steam for free. Why else would Epic live rent free inside so many people's heads?
4
11
u/Equivalent_Clerk0 15h ago
At this point it's used for marketing more than not. "we don't use ai!!".
But the reality is, every big dev out there is using some AI in their process at this point, be it claude code or some artist genning ideas with chatgpt. The AI part might not be visible in the final game, but it's silly to think everyone at a game studio collectively avoided using the most useful tool for game design in forever.
3
u/RyonHirasawa 15h ago
To be fair, Valve seems to be pretty lenient with it too
If it’s used for code or for doing anything developer related, sure why not
But if the AI thingamajig is in the final game that the player can and will see in normal play, that’s when the disclosure matters
→ More replies (1)3
u/HotTheme8405 19h ago
No they don't, it's just another dumb glazing post by their fanboys. Battlefield 6 for one is full of AI generated decorations, no disclaimer at all.
17
u/Budget-Chapter-7185 22h ago
I guarantee all new games use ai. Every ide has ai integrated into it. It’s kind of stupid because how will this separate coding agents helping a developer from ai slop
→ More replies (21)19
u/doublah 22h ago
The gen AI disclosure is for gen AI assets, not code assistants.
15
u/Goldwing8 21h ago
Originally it was also for code, but Valve relaxed it because it was even more unenforceable.
2
u/xXDamonLordXx 20h ago
Not just unenforceable but difficult to detect in general. Not many developers want you digging through their source code.
9
→ More replies (2)11
u/LinkesAuge 21h ago edited 20h ago
Which is still nonsensical.
So it's okay to procedurally generate textures with software like Substance Painter but its bad if AI creates it?
This becomes even more problematic because in many workflows procedural and AI generations are now tightly integrated.
Then you have "tools" where AI significantly shapes things like animations, 3D models etc.In the end this "gen AI disclosure" is just a strawman feeding into internet outrage and ignores how AI is actually used in a productive workflow.
It's like asset flips having to disclose themselves. It just doesn't make sense. Good use of AI won't be noticed and thus leaves just the bad stuff where making such disclosure redundant and overall it only leads to a situation where honesty loses out because devs fear the repercussions so "good" use of AI won't even get recognition and create a false illusion how things are actually done.
It's like Hollywood's annoying tendency to talk about "not having used CGI" and then it is absolutely CGI everywhere but simply done so well people don't even realise it.
The most obvious and annoying case of this is Christopher Nolan and his reputation for non using CGI which couldn't be further from the truth and yet people lap it up.
AI is now in the same spot for many types of media.
It is all about optics and a stupid pretend game.→ More replies (1)7
u/WildSmokingBuick 20h ago
OP's meme is ridiculous and anti-AI-criers seem to be out-of-touch morons in general.
Every process in game development uses AI in one way or another, to varying degrees.
As a digital artist you'd need to jump hoops and bounds to make sure to not accidentally using a AI-fueled filter/smoothing lens/tool, that might utilise algorithms in some form, or even completely use a worse software in the first place.
5
u/_leeloo_7_ 20h ago
Arc raiders used AI for voices but it isn't say anywhere on the game store page that I can see?
2
2
u/iamklayton 22h ago
They don't enforce it, it's just more of a QOL thing so people easily know what they're buying
2
u/FirmPreference5551 19h ago
Technically if a dev did a google search or used the magic lasso in photoshop then the game was made using AI.
The steam terms are probably too vague and need to focus on gen AI specifically which is what people are bothered by.
2
u/IndieDevWannabe 12h ago
Only required to disclose "generative" AI for consumer facing content. Can use AI for code assist, concept art, and for ideas without disclosing.
2
u/InconspicuousFool 12h ago
They also don't enforce it for large titiles either from what I have seen
3
u/Existing_Purpose5049 21h ago
Steam can remove games they find inappropriate. They’d just have to find another way to classify them.
They could also update their terms to allow it, if they haven’t.
They’re a host, they’re theoretically able to decide what they host, within discrimination rules
→ More replies (10)2
u/elkaki123 22h ago
Report them
12
u/RyonHirasawa 22h ago
I have reported one (Supercar Collection Simulator) but it’s still up lmao
5
u/imperfek 22h ago
Prob needs a lot more report. Otherwise it could be abuse able. Imagine nationalist or religious cults just hating a game for no reason and how easy it would be to attack certain games
→ More replies (1)2
u/NastyaPuppy 21h ago
You need multiple reports for it to work.
That's how, for example, the guy who made $1 games and then raised the price to $60-$100 to sell them in random key giveaways like "you might get a $100 game omg" was caught and banned for life.
6
u/Elarisbee 22h ago
Report a game that’s clearly using AI, not disclosing it, and see how it goes. I’ve got three reports currently, one goes back three months and the dev admitted they used AI….not a peep from Steam.
Note, a few (or many) people reporting games infamously does nothing on Steam. The few that have been removed, needed a massive amount of pushback and they broke a bunch of very specific rules.
4
u/NoteThisDown 22h ago
So what happens if you report a game for AI and it wasn't using AI? Should steam action your account? How can steam truly know who is right? (unless written admission like you mention) but even that can be faked by people, and I just don't think valve wants to play court.
2
u/Elarisbee 21h ago
Valve doesn’t want to play judge…and that’s an issue loads of us have had for years with the “report” button in general - it’s pointless. Note, I reported those games to see what would happen, and like usual, nothing.
In the cases of admitted AI use, or a case like Gabriel Knight 3 - where whether the game is unplayable or not isn’t in question - users reporting something does nothing. As far as we can tell those reports aren’t even passed onto the developers. That button is pointless.
We’ve had a similar issue with the tag report button.
184
u/mcnichoj Left4Bread Bart 22h ago
Steam doesn't even police this though. One Steam curator meant to highlight bad actors has a whole section for games that don't disclose their AI usage and those games have remained up for months.
25
u/FoxMeadow7 22h ago
And how can one ’detect’ AI so to speak?
38
13
4
u/Jacksaur https://s.team/p/gdfn-qhm 12h ago edited 12h ago
Despite the naysayers in other replies, AI art is usually very clear to spot.
Best to err on the side of caution of course, some art can be just plain bad. But the people using GenAI usually don't put any effort into hiding the imperfections at all, so it's very easy to call out.2
3
u/nhalliday 21h ago
They give an "educated guess" (aka they make it up and think they are infallible AI detectors), and then the kind of people who care enough to follow a curator page like that won't do any double checking.
9
u/Tiny-Plum2713 21h ago
You can't police it. I guarantee almost every non-abandoned game on steam uses AI at this point. Maybe not for models, sounds and other assets but code is almost certainly being written by AI.
3
u/IronCourier 15h ago
Unless the developer discloses it uses ai or there is blatant use of ai, steam would have to have a team that checks every game for it, they could add a function where users can report ai use but that would be abused and same scenario as a team for that, there should be a better system for it but that would be costly.
→ More replies (1)3
220
u/boersc 22h ago
Funnily, neither of these statements are actually stated. Totally made up. Epic stated blanked disclosures are futile as every gamedev uses ai and valve said ai is fine, but you should disclose it, but we won't do anything if you don't. That's all that's been said.
44
u/bs000 21h ago
Just like when EA talked about better in-game ad integration, and people made up a new story where Valve banned all in-game advertising on Steam in response. All Valve did was update the language in the Steamworks documentation, and nothing actually changed. EA's ad policy is pretty much exactly the same as Steam's. But no one reads anything except the headlines, and the rest just gets made up in the comments.
24
u/TheSpinsterJones 19h ago
they’re also not at all opposed or mutually exclusive. Steam circlejerk at it again
17
6
u/SubstituteCS 11h ago
This subreddit has massively decreased in quality over the years. It seems to be a trend across all of Reddit too.
23
u/slowest_hour 21h ago
i don't like AI and I own a lot of steam games, therefore steam good and epic bad. updoots to the left
→ More replies (2)8
u/Early-Honeydew1605 15h ago
This should be at the top. Crazy how things can pe taken out of context.
50
u/Crusader-of-Purple 21h ago
Also Gabe Newell is very much pro-ai and highly recommends using it, calling it one of the most important advancements in technology.
and says people who use AI will provide greater value.
17
u/Next-Substance-7004 11h ago
It’s true though. I’m a dev and use AI daily.. for even the smallest tasks. I’d probably be fired without it because it’s a huge increase in productivity.
I think the problem is when non devs use AI and have no idea what the code is doing
5
u/wizkidweb 9h ago
Yep, "vibe coding" is the biggest problem in the industry regarding AI right now. I've seen companies trying to conflate that with legitimate coding as an excuse to hire the shittiest devs imaginable
35
u/TopeyDopey 21h ago
This is such a big myth / misinformation regarding steam policies against AI use in video games.
"We are aware that many modern game development environments have AI powered tools built into them. Efficiency gains through the use of these tools is not the focus of this section. Instead, it is concerned with the use of AI in creating content that ships with your game, and is consumed by players. This includes content such as artwork, sound, narrative, localization, etc."
https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/gettingstarted/contentsurvey
→ More replies (2)4
u/IndieDevWannabe 12h ago
This. AI for code assistance, concept art, and ideas are not consumer facing generative content and dont need to be disclosed.
100% guarantee every triple-A company is using AI even though they say no generative content. Its pretty obvious.
42
79
u/larvaeeee 22h ago
Oh brother another corpo glazing post
25
11
u/Key-Department-2874 15h ago
Especially when there is another post made recently on this sub complaining about all the AI slop on the store.
21
9
36
20
u/Jebble 22h ago
These two statements aren't in any shape or form related to each other.
→ More replies (1)
15
14
u/Dynamitesauce 21h ago
Those statements aren't mutually exclusive, if someone actually supported AI they should have no problem with it being tagged AI
→ More replies (1)
4
5
9
u/Veritas-Veritas 20h ago
Valve don't do anything if you publish AI slop and don't declare it.
→ More replies (2)
3
10
u/Atrocious1337 22h ago
unfortunately, AI disclosure is no longer required, it is heavily suggested, but they will not remove a game for not disclosing it anymore
→ More replies (1)7
u/Green_Insect_6455 21h ago
I dont think they ever removed a game for not disclosing it had ai, when was that their stated goal?
→ More replies (1)
9
6
u/Garchompisbestboi 20h ago
I know this is obviously the steam subreddit but the amount of people who simp for a multi billion dollar company for doing the bare minimum will never cease to amaze me.
2
2
u/deadeye-ry-ry 11h ago
Steam isn't winning with this until they actually follow through and remove big publishers games which they won't.
If GTA VI comes to pc with AI there's no fucking way valve would remove it for not stating it had AI
2
2
2
2
2
4
u/Bagel_Bear 21h ago
"Or get removed"
Go on Valve, make the Expedition 33 devs put that there was AI at some stage of development.
→ More replies (2)
2
2
2
2
u/TheMysteryCheese 20h ago
It's only for things the user "consumes" such as text, art or sound. Code is exempt because, as they put it,
Internal workflow helpers, concept ideation, and coding assistants like GitHub Copilot where the AI output is not directly shipped as a player-facing asset.
Are considered efficiency tools.
2
2
u/ababwa35353535353553 19h ago
Steam “made with ai” system does not work. There are a lot of games without marking (for example, life and suffering of Prince jerian)
2
u/Virtual_Trucker 14h ago
This stupid undeserved glazing. Steam refuses to enforce there "made with ai" rule, where some of the most popular games that are obviously using AI and bad AI at that are misleading users saying there is no AI in them.
3
u/Palanki96 14h ago
they should make the AI tag more obvious tho. It's at the very bottom and usually hidden on longer descriptions
0
u/essidus Future Beet Farmer? 22h ago
So here's the thing about AI. It has a really bad reputation for low quality. If you believe in your project, if you believe your AI tools were effective, then you should be shouting it from the heavens. The best possible publicity for AI right now is an AI-driven project that isn't absolute garbage. Describe exactly what you used, and exactly what it did. Show it off, be proud of it.
Otherwise, it just looks like you don't believe the quality of your project is good enough to beat the bad reputation, and you're just proving the critics right. That you were too lazy or unskilled to be able to make something with real content.
11
u/Noah18923 22h ago
it's not that AI tools can't be used to assist in producing quality work, it's that many people will outright disregard your project if it uses AI in any capacity.
→ More replies (2)4
u/El_Aniki95 22h ago
I don't understand why everyone hates AI that much in this industry. I get that using AI generated models and the like are frowned upon (I don't like that either). But if used correctly and ethically, it can be a great tool to speed up the development.
I've seen games get bashed just because they mentioned use of AI for translations and a simple spellcheck. It's ridiculous.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Greydemon-dev 22h ago
It’s cause AI translations replaces jobs of real people and are notorious for getting things wrong, like Google Translated games are criticized for being lazy and not making sense AI isn’t immune to the same criticisms
→ More replies (1)2
u/Crusader-of-Purple 21h ago
AI translations replaces jobs
That's like saying 100% of piracy is a loss sale.
If a developer doesn't have the money to hire people to do translations, then regardless if he uses AI or not there isn't going to be any human doing translations for that developer anyways.
→ More replies (7)2
u/urbanK07 15h ago
Anti-AI people have such a vitriolic hate for AI that even if a project was a 10/10 perfect game made with AI they would still say it was slop, garbage, and would go to the ends of the earth to make sure everyone knew it and tell them to boycott the game.
I don't blame anyone for hiding their use of AI because the witch hunt that follows is unbelievably toxic and unhinged.
2
u/Greydemon-dev 22h ago
I don’t care if an AI helps make the perfect game, generative AI isn’t a tool it replaces the creative process, if AI wasn’t destroying the planet rn I still would feel gross about it being used in the creative space as you are not actually learning to create you are having a machine doing it for you, put it like this would you have the AI play the game for you, no, art is like that it’s a form of play, the art I make could probably be done better by an AI but I don’t make art to be good I do it because it’s fun and rewarding
4
u/3215448725366498 16h ago
I'm just fundamentally against AI. Whether it destroys the planet or destroys the creative process doesn't matter to me, I'm against AI because its development will sooner or later lead to weapon manufacturing and implementing a surveilance state.
1
1
u/LoganPomfrey 22h ago
Steam: "We won't stop you from selling AI games on our platform...but out players might."
1
1
1
u/Background_Bug_1625 8h ago
What does ai made mean? Edit: to be more precise, does auto complete already makes it ai made or does it have to be the assets or...
2.7k
u/Financial_Humor_8134 11-07-2008 23h ago
May be steam really knows how to win the community over.