Valve to allow "vast majority" of games using AI content on Steam with new policy update

Steam has made new changes to its policies that will make it easier to release games using AI technology. However, developers will have to promise that their products won’t contain any illegal content.

In a new blog post, Valve announced that the changes “will enable us to release the vast majority of games that use [AI technology].”

As a result, a new section will now appear in the Content Survey that developers fill out when submitting a game to Steam. If devs use AI technology in their products, they will have to disclose the category it falls into:

• Pre-Generated — any content created with the help of AI tools during development;
• Live-Generated — any content created with the help of AI tools in real time while the game is running (the only exception is adult-only games with sexual content).

Moreover, developers must “promise Valve that your game will not include illegal or infringing content, and that your game will be consistent with your marketing materials.” During the review process, the company will check whether the product meets those promises. As for titles that use Live-Generated AI content, “you’ll need to tell us what kind of guardrails you’re putting on your AI to ensure it’s not generating illegal content.”

Here are also some changes to how players will be able to interact with these types of games on the store:

• A special disclosure will be included on the Steam page, so customers understand how the game uses AI;
• Users will be able to report illegal content using the in-game overlay.

“Today’s changes are the result of us improving our understanding of the landscape and risks in this space, as well as talking to game developers using AI, and those building AI tools,” Valve said in a statement. “This will allow us to be much more open to releasing games using AI technology on Steam.”

Last year, Steam started rejecting submissions for games that use AI-generated content. The company later said “there is some legal uncertainty relating to data used to train AI models,” also adding that it doesn’t want to discourage the use of it on Steam.

In its new blog post, Valve noted that it will continue to learn from the legal progress around AI and “revisit this decision when necessary.”