Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has criticized Steams AI policy in several recent statements. According to the industry veteran, Valve's requirement to disclose AI usage on Steam doesn't make much sense and is becoming increasingly irrelevant.
Valve has required developers to disclose the use of AI-generated content in their Steam listings since January 2024. The mandate was added to the Steam Distribution Agreement, the company's standard agreement that outlines the terms of software distribution on its platform. The policy followed months of reports that Valve had banned certain games with AI-generated content from Steam. In a prepared statement issued after the change, the company said the disclosure requirement would allow it to “release the vast majority of games” that rely on generative AI.
Game developers take a stand against generative AI
In response to the discussions surrounding generative AI, some game developers are making their stance against it very clear.
Epic Games Boss Says Steam's AI Disclosure Policy Makes No Sense
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney took aim at Valve's AI policy in several messages posted on X, formerly Twitter, in late November 2025. In response to a tweet urging Valve to drop the AI disclosure label, the executive said the mandate “doesn't make sense for game stores,” where a growing number of titles now rely on some form of design or art form. A July report from Totally Human Media supports Sweeney's observation, finding that one in five Steam games released in 2025 revealed AI use. The same source estimated that only 7% of all titles on the platform currently carry the disclosure, and concluded that AI usage among game developers is on the rise.
The label “Made with AI” will soon be implied for almost all games, Epic CEO predicts
Sweeney clarified that he is not opposed to AI labels in general, and acknowledges their relevance in contexts where copyright or ownership is crucial, such as art exhibitions and content licensing platforms. But with a growing number of game developers embracing AI, he argued that the label is losing much of its meaning on platforms like Steam and the Epic Games Store, where he expects it will soon need to be applied to almost all lists.
Epic Boss likens Steam's AI label to Shampoo Brand Disclosure
Sweeney's comment on Nov. 27 provoked a polarizing response from social media users. A post challenging his beliefs by saying “customers deserve to know” about AI use prompted the boss to double down on his stance with a cheeky analogy. “We could have mandatory disclosures for what brand of shampoo the developer uses,” Sweeney said, arguing that if AI disclosures are mandatory, there's no reason to stop at just using AI. While some users pointed out that developers' shampoo preferences aren't as significant to game development as AI usage, Sweeney didn't respond further.
Why stop using AI? We could have mandatory information about which brand of shampoo the developer uses. Customers deserve to know lol.
Award-Winning Dev Pushes Back Sweeney's Faith in 'Slop Machines'
Among the most vocal sections of online communities, there is a growing belief that AI use is correlated with low-quality titles. This sentiment extends beyond consumers; Thomas Bithell, developer of the critically acclaimed puzzle platformer Thomas was alonecalled Sweeney's AI comments “truly speaking.” When the award-winning developer posted on BlueSky on Nov. 27, he was direct in his criticism of Sweeney's support for generative AI. “Imagine being so certain that you need scrappers to do your job, that you convince yourself that EVERYONE must need them,” Bithell wrote.
Generative AI isn't going away on Steam or anywhere else
As highlighted by the recent controversy over ARC RaidersUsing AI, even some of today's most popular and critically acclaimed games are not immune to criticism for incorporating generative AI. But if Sweeney's prediction proves correct and the industry broadly embraces such technologies, AI use could become normalized among gamers and developers alike. In that case, Valve could once again revise its Steam policy, which currently requires AI disclosure at a basic level, recognizing only two official labels: pre-generated and live-generated – referring to whether the AI content is packaged with the game or created in real-time.
Steam's pre-generated label applies not only to images and music, but also to AI-generated code, which may be the most widespread form of AI use in game development today. According to the 2025 Stack Overflow survey, 84% of the platform's users already rely on AI tools or intend to use them soon, with professional developers generally expressing a more favorable view of such tools than beginners learning to code. While the survey doesn't provide an industry-specific breakdown — making it unclear whether, for example, web developers are using AI more than game developers — its findings suggest that Steam's AI-generated content label may already be outdated as Valve applies it uniformly to both code and art.
Source: Steam
