Valve Reacts To Reports Of Games Getting Blocked From Steam Over AI Issues

Gaming giant Valve has responded to reports that it is rejecting games from Steam that contain content created with artificial intelligence. Specifically, some developers have reported that Valve is blocking games from Steam if the developers cannot prove they have the underlying asset rights.

Valve reacted to this with a public statement shared with GameSpot. The company said it believes AI will have a role to play in the future of game development. At the same time, Valve said the "legal uncertainty" surrounding AI might prove to be a sticking point in the near future as AI evolves.

"We are continuing to learn about AI, the ways it can be used in game development, and how to factor it in to our process for reviewing games submitted for distribution on Steam," Valve said. "Our priority, as always, is to try to ship as many of the titles we receive as we can. The introduction of AI can sometimes make it harder to show a developer has sufficient rights in using AI to create assets, including images, text, and music. In particular, there is some legal uncertainty relating to data used to train AI models. It is the developer's responsibility to make sure they have the appropriate rights to ship their game."

Valve said AI is a "constantly evolving" piece of technology, and it is not attempting to discourage the use of it on Steam. In fact, Valve said it is now "working through" how to incorporate AI into the existing Steam review policies, and right now, this means some games have been blocked.

"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," Valve said. "We welcome and encourage innovation, and AI technology is bound to create new and exciting experiences in gaming. While developers can use these AI technologies in their work with appropriate commercial licenses, they can not infringe on existing copyrights."

Finally, Valve said it doesn't normally refund app submission payments, but in this case--for titles involving the use of AI--developers can be refunded as Valve works through its review process.

AI has been a major topic in the wider technology space and video games specifically in recent times. Microsoft partnered up with ChatGPT and reportedly invested $10 billion into the AI company. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer believes AI will be a positive, additive force in gaming. Strauss Zelnick, the head of GTA parent company Take-Two, believes in AI as well, but he doesn't think a rival developer could use it to make a genuine GTA competitor anytime soon. PUBG creator Brendan Greene's new game, meanwhile, is using advanced machine-learning to create massive and realistic open worlds.

Outside of the video game space, Hollywood writers are now on strike due in part to concerns about AI and what role the technology could play in scriptwriting.