Steam will now accept "the vast majority" of games using "AI" generation, but only with disclosures

10.01.2024 - 11:27 / rockpapershotgun.com / Ai / Will

Little-known indie platform holder Valve have announced a new policy for Steam releases that make use of "AI" technology. To boil it down, developers will now have to disclose how they're using AI tools on Steam pages, including what "guardrails" they're putting in place for live-generated stuff that might be illegal or infringe on copyright. Valve are also introducing a new player reporting system for breaches. The company say these adjustments "will enable us to release the vast majority of games that use AI", with the exception of Adult Only Sexual content that is generated live.

Valve have been pondering whether or not to accept games that make use of the latest generative tools for a while. Back in June, the company told Kaan that they wanted to "encourage innovation" on this front, but that it's hard to gauge whether or not developers have the rights to images, text and music generated by tools "trained" on other images, text and music.

"We know it is a constantly evolving tech, and our goal is not to discourage the use of it on Steam," a spokesperson commented. "Instead, we're working through how to integrate it into our already-existing review policies. Stated plainly, our review process is a reflection of current copyright law and policies, not an added layer of our opinion. As these laws and policies evolve over time, so will our process."

While Valve still feel that AI-based game development is a "fast-moving and legally murky space", they've at last thrashed out a set of policies they're happy with. The company have added an "AI disclosure section" to the content survey developers fill out when they submit their games for publication, "where you'll need to describe how you are using AI in the development and execution of your game". It separates AI usage in games into two broad categories, as below:

Pre-Generated: Any kind of content (art/code/sound/etc) created with the help of AI tools during development. Under the Steam Distribution Agreement, you promise Valve that your game will not include illegal or infringing content, and that your game will be consistent with your marketing materials. In our pre-release review, we will evaluate the output of AI generated content in your game the same way we evaluate all non-AI content - including a check that your game meets those promises.

Live-Generated: Any kind of content created with the help of AI tools while the game is running. In addition to following the same rules as Pre-Generated AI content, this comes with an additional requirement: in the Content Survey, you'll need to tell us what kind of guardrails you're putting on your AI to ensure it's not generating illegal content.

Valve will "include much of" this disclosure on the Steam