Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney criticized SteamAI principles in several recent statements. According to an 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 their 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 contract outlining the terms of software distribution on its platform. The policy followed several months after reports claimed that Valve had banned some 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 go up against generative artificial intelligence
In response to the debate surrounding generative artificial intelligence, some game developers have made their stance against it quite 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 one tweet calling for Valve to drop the AI label, the executive said the mandate “doesn't make sense for game stores”, where a growing number of titles now rely on a generative form or AI solution. A July report from Totally Human Media supports Sweeney's observation, finding that one in five Steam games released in 2025 revealed the use of AI. The same source estimated that only 7% of all titles on the platform currently carry disclosure, and concluded that AI adoption among game developers is skyrocketing.
The “Made with AI” label will soon be included for almost all games, Epic's CEO predicts
Sweeney clarified that he is not opposed to AI labels in general, and acknowledged their importance in contexts where copyright or property rights are critical, such as art exhibitions and content licensing platforms. But with a growing number of game developers embracing artificial intelligence, he argued that the label is losing much of its meaning for platforms like Steam and the Epic Games Store, where he expects it will soon have to be applied to nearly every entry.
Epic Boss likens Steam's AI labeling to revealing the brand of shampoo
Sweeney's Nov. 27 remark drew a polarizing response from social media users. One post challenging his belief that “customers deserve to know” about the use of AI prompted the manager to double down on his stance with a cheeky analogy. “We could have mandatory disclosure of what brand of shampoo a developer is using,” Sweeney said, noting that if AI disclosure is mandatory, there is no reason to stop at just using AI. While some users pointed out that developers' shampoo preferences aren't as important to game development as the use of AI, Sweeney didn't respond further.
Why stop using AI? We could have mandatory information about what brand of shampoo the developer is using. Customers deserve to know lol.
Award-winning developer pushes back against Sweeney's belief in 'Slop Machines'
There is a growing perception among the most vocal parts of online communities that the use of artificial intelligence is linked to poor quality titles. This sentiment extends beyond consumers; Thomas Bithell, developer of the critically acclaimed puzzle platformer Thomas was alonecalled Sweeney's AI comments “matter of fact”. An award-winning developer posted on BlueSky on November 27 directly criticized Sweeney's support for generative artificial intelligence. “Imagine if you were so sure you needed slide machines for your job that you convinced yourself EVERYONE must need them,” Bithell wrote.
Generative AI isn't going away on Steam or anywhere else
As the recent controversy highlighted ARC RaidersThanks to the use of AI, even some of today's most popular and critically acclaimed games are not immune to criticism for incorporating generative AI. However, if Sweeney's prediction proves accurate and the industry adopts such technologies widely, the use of artificial intelligence may become normalized among gamers and developers alike. In that case, Valve could revisit its Steam policies, which currently mandate the disclosure of AI at a basic level, recognizing only two official labels: pre-generated and live-generated — referring to whether the AI content is bundled with the game or created in real time.
Steam's pre-generated sticker applies not only to visuals and music, but also to AI-generated code, which may be the most widespread use of AI in game development today. According to a 2025 Stack Overflow survey, 84% of the platform's users already rely on AI tools or intend to adopt them soon, with professional developers generally expressing a more favorable opinion of such tools than beginners learning to code. While the survey doesn't provide a breakdown by industry — so it's unclear whether, for example, web developers are using AI more than game developers — its findings suggest that the label for AI-generated content on Steam may already be outdated, as Valve uniformly applies it to both code and art.
Source: Steam
