Steam updates AI disclosure form to specify that it's focused on AI-generated content that is 'consumed by players,' not efficiency tools used behind the scenes

Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney recently said digital storefronts like Steam should stop using AI disclosure labels because "AI will be involved in nearly all future production" anyway. PC Gamer's Tyler Wilde disagreed (as do I), but he also noted that such disclosures can be tricky for developers: "Does it count if you used Photoshop's generative fill tool while making concept art that was never intended for the public eye? Or if you used Claude to generate a few code snippets? Or if someone in marketing used ChatGPT to make a spreadsheet?"

It seems that Valve has also been contemplating these questions and has made a tweak to its AI disclosure form for developers.

In its submission form, Valve now specifies that game publishers must disclose pre-made generative AI assets only when used in marketing materials or content that "ships with your game, and is consumed by players." That's via a screenshot of the form shared by Simon Carless' GameDiscoverCo.

In other words, Steam's disclosure requirement is not concerned with generative AI tools used behind the scenes for efficiency gains (presumably including coding helpers) or office work, but with things like final art, sound, and writing.

The AI disclosure form otherwise looks consistent with the policy Valve detailed back in 2024, when it first introduced its rules around generative AI. The form breaks AI usage down into two categories: Pre-generated, which is any in-game content "created with the help of AI tools," and live-generated, covering anything created via AI systems while the game in question is running. Pre-generated content is subject to the same rules as non-AI content, while developers of games making use of live-generated content must also lay out "what kind of guardrails you're putting on your AI to ensure it's not generating illegal content."

Interestingly, Steam just rewrote - but did NOT remove - its 'does your game have AI in it?' dev disclosure form. Valve's making it clearer the 'AI powered tools' (like code helpers) don't need citing - "Efficiency gains through the use of [AI powered dev tools] is not the focus of this section."

You might not have noticed it, but Valve added a button to the Steam overlay that allows users to report illegal content generated by games with live-generation AI. Given what we've seen tumble out of generative AI systems recently, that's probably a good idea.