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Yes—if generative AI helped create anything players consume, disclose it to Steam. That includes shipped art, music, voices, dialogue, translations, store-page copy, capsule images, trailers, Steam community assets, and content generated during play. Valve’s current test is not whether AI touched the project; it is whether AI produced player-facing content. Code completion, debugging and private concept sketches that never ship are not the focus of the current survey wording. Steam still accepts games that use AI, but the disclosure is mandatory before review and live generation has extra safeguards.
What exactly does Steam require developers to disclose?
Steamworks’ Content Survey asks whether a game uses generative artificial intelligence to create content, either pre-rendered or live-generated. The question explicitly covers the game, its store page, Steam community assets and marketing materials. The current wording is published in Steamworks’ Content Survey documentation.
Valve describes the policy as a player-consumption test. Its wording says efficiency gains from AI-powered tools in development environments are “not the focus”; the concern is AI-created artwork, sound, narrative, localization and similar content that ships and is consumed by players.
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The survey has two practical categories:
- Pre-Generated: fixed content made with AI during development and included in the released game or its associated Steam materials.
- Live-Generated: content made by an AI service while the game is running, such as generated dialogue, images or audio.
Valve reviews disclosed content under the same basic rules as non-AI content. A disclosure does not excuse copyright infringement, illegal material, deceptive marketing or a mismatch between the game and its store page.
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Do I have to disclose AI on Steam before review?
Yes. Steamworks says all three Content Survey sections must be completed before a product is submitted to the Review Process. After submission, Valve’s review team compares the answers with the build and store page.
That requirement is different from automated enforcement. Valve has not published an AI-detector accuracy rate or an official count of rejections for undisclosed AI. A game with incomplete or inaccurate answers might pass initial checks, then face a player report, a later compliance review or a request to correct its store information. Sulka Haro’s 2026 census found that 22% of significant-revenue AI-flagged games added the flag after release, with additions clustering around Valve’s January 2026 wording rewrite.
Products must follow Steam’s content rules whether or not a developer discloses AI. Treat the survey as a required compliance statement, not as a license to use material you could not legally ship.
Does using Copilot, ChatGPT or another code assistant require Steam disclosure?
Not usually, when the tool only improves development efficiency and does not generate content players consume. The January 2026 wording specifically says efficiency gains from AI-powered development tools are not the focus. That covers common code completion, debugging and automated-test assistance when the resulting code is simply part of the implementation.
The distinction is about output, not the product name. If an AI coding system also creates player-facing dialogue, images, music, localization or marketing copy that ships, disclose that content. Keep an internal record of what the tool did so you can answer the survey accurately and explain any boundary case.
Valve has not issued a formal exemption list. A cautious interpretation is therefore: code-only assistance that never generates player-consumed material is outside the stated focus; any player-facing generative result belongs in the disclosure.
Which shipped assets count as Pre-Generated AI content?
Disclose any generative-model output that remains in the product or its public Steam presentation. The following matrix applies the current Steamworks wording to common production tasks.
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| Use | Steam treatment | What to explain |
|---|---|---|
| Sprites, concept-derived illustrations, textures and 3D models in the game | Pre-Generated; disclose | Asset type, where it appears and the human review or editing process |
| Music, sound effects and synthetic voices | Pre-Generated; disclose | Which audio is generated and how it was selected, edited or replaced |
| Dialogue, lore, quest text and item descriptions | Pre-Generated; disclose | What text was generated and what writers changed |
| AI translation or localization shipped to players | Pre-Generated; disclose | Languages, model use and human linguistic review |
| Capsule art, trailer footage, store copy and Steam community assets | Disclose | Identify the marketing or community material, not only the game build |
| Private prototypes or placeholder art removed before release | Not player-facing; normally outside the focus | Retain records in case a supposedly replaced asset remains in a build or trailer |
The survey asks about content players see, hear or read, regardless of which employee, contractor or asset seller clicked Generate. If you buy an AI-made asset pack, ask the supplier in writing about its origin and commercial license, then include any qualifying shipped material in your inventory.
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What should I write in the Steam AI disclosure?
Valve has not published a model paragraph. Secondary developer guidance consistently recommends a specific, player-readable description rather than “we used AI tools in our creative process.” Name the content, its location, the human review step and anything the model did not create.
A useful structure is:
- State that the game uses generative AI and identify whether the use is Pre-Generated, Live-Generated or both.
- List modalities and locations: for example, background illustrations in specified scenes, synthetic voices for optional lines, or machine-assisted translations for named languages.
- Describe human involvement: editing, rewriting, compositing, selection, fact checking, pronunciation review or rejection of unsuitable outputs.
- For live systems, explain moderation and player-safety controls in operational terms.
- State relevant exclusions, such as code assistance or internal prototypes that do not ship, so players understand the scope.
Write for the public block that appears on the store page under an “AI Generated Content Disclosure” heading. The text should remain accurate if the game receives an update; keep a versioned asset register so later changes are traceable.
What extra rules apply to Live-Generated AI?
Live generation requires the same legal and content compliance as pre-generated material, plus guardrails because Valve cannot inspect every future output before release. The Content Survey asks you to describe those controls.
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- Input and output moderation, including blocked terms and image or audio filters.
- System prompts that restrict the model to the game’s setting and age rating.
- Rate limits, maximum output lengths and abuse throttles.
- Logging and retention sufficient to investigate harmful outputs.
- A clear in-game report route; Valve’s 2024 announcement described a Steam-overlay reporting path for illegal live-generated content.
- Fallback responses or disabling generation when the service fails moderation.
Describe what the game actually implements, not a generic promise to “monitor the AI.” If an external API charges per request, Steamworks says you must manage access and collect payment through a Steam-supported method. Valve lists four patterns: include the cost in the base price, use Steam microtransactions, sell a subscription with unlimited access, or offer a one-time DLC unlock. It does not prescribe one model.
Does Steam allow AI-generated adult content?
Steam’s current Adult Only FAQ says Valve does not want to ship Live-Generated AI Adult Only Sexual Content because the legal and customer risks are substantial. Do not design a runtime system that generates this category and expect the survey disclosure to make it acceptable.
This statement is specifically about live-generated Adult Only Sexual Content. It does not turn the general AI disclosure into a blanket approval for other adult material; all content still has to satisfy Steam’s separate rules, applicable law and the Distribution Agreement.
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Do store-page art, trailers and community posts count?
Yes. The rewritten survey question expressly includes the store page, Steam community assets and marketing materials. A game can therefore require disclosure even when no generated asset remains in its executable.
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Inventory capsule images, screenshots, trailer B-roll, promotional illustrations, written store copy and community graphics alongside in-game files. Marketing must also match the product Valve reviews; replacing an AI-made trailer after approval does not remove the need to keep the survey answer accurate if another qualifying asset remains public.
Can I remove the AI disclosure after replacing the assets?
Possibly, but do not assume the public answer is freely editable after approval. Steamworks says some survey questions become locked once the build and store page are approved. If AI content is added, removed or materially changed, contact Steam Support with a summary of the change and instructions showing a tester how to reach the affected content.
Keep old and new asset inventories, build identifiers and store-page captures. This gives Support a precise change history and helps demonstrate that a disclosure change reflects an actual product change rather than an attempt to hide earlier use.
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Steam’s review guidance says store presence and build review typically take three to five business days, while asking partners to plan at least seven business days. Adult Only Sexual Content products can take longer and require both the store page and build before the store page is set ready. A locked survey answer or a vague disclosure can add another support cycle.
Submit the Content Survey, store page and build as a consistent package. Check every public asset immediately before submission; an AI-generated trailer uploaded after the survey can create a mismatch even if the executable itself is unchanged.
How do Steam’s rules compare with itch.io and the Epic Games Store?
Steam is not the only storefront with an AI policy, but its categories differ from other platforms.
| Storefront | Disclosure approach | Important difference |
|---|---|---|
| Steam | Mandatory Content Survey before review; public disclosure for qualifying uses | Current wording focuses on player-consumed content and treats code efficiency as outside the focus; live generation needs guardrails |
| itch.io | Generative-AI field with Graphics, Sound, Text & Dialog and Code categories; “AI Generated” tags can be added | Code counts as a category there, unlike Steam’s current emphasis; disclosure is required for asset pages and encouraged for games |
| Epic Games Store | No equivalent Steam-style AI label for games | Epic leadership has publicly opposed storefront AI labels; separate marketplace policies may differ |
Traditional game AI such as pathfinding, procedural generation and dynamic difficulty is excluded from itch.io’s generative-AI form. If you ship on multiple storefronts, maintain separate disclosure notes rather than copying Steam’s answer everywhere.
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Disclosure is a compliance requirement, but the label also has a market effect. Sulka Haro’s census of 53,597 Steam “Games” releases from July 2023 through July 2026 found that genuine at-submission AI disclosures rose to roughly one in three new releases by mid-2026. Haro estimates AI-flagged games represented about 10–27% of sales in late 2025 and 2026, below their roughly 33% share of launches.
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The same analysis found extreme concentration: the top 1% of titles captured about 94% of estimated revenue, while the median game with reviews was estimated at about $300 and roughly 28% of games received zero reviews. These are order-of-magnitude estimates using reviews multiplied by 30 for units and list price for revenue, before Steam’s cut and discounts.
Among a random sample of low-review AI-flagged games, 72% mentioned AI art, images or textures, compared with 57% of higher-review successes. Successful AI-flagged titles were more likely to disclose voice (24% versus 8%) and localization (18% versus 6%). This is an association, not proof that a label causes failure or success.
Quantic Foundry’s optional October–December 2025 survey of 1,799 respondents found 85% had a below-neutral attitude toward generative AI in games and 63% chose the most negative option. Respondents were most negative about artwork, music and sound, and narrative or dialogue; they were comparatively less negative about uses such as dynamic difficulty. The sample leaned male, core and PC, so it is not a census of all players.
What are the copyright and licensing risks beyond Steam’s survey?
Steam disclosure does not grant copyright or commercial rights. In the United States, the D.C. Circuit’s March 2025 decision in Thaler v. Perlmutter reaffirmed that copyright requires a human author while noting that AI-assisted work can qualify when a human determines expressive elements. The U.S. Copyright Office’s January 2025 report similarly says prompts alone generally do not provide enough human control; protection is assessed case by case.
For a studio, keep an asset register containing the tool, account or plan, generation date, prompt or source material where relevant, output disposition and human edits. Check the commercial license in force when each asset was created. Some free plans for generative audio, voice and image services restrict commercial use, and upgrading later may not retroactively license earlier outputs.
Ask contractors and asset vendors to warrant the origin and rights of supplied files. Valve’s Distribution Agreement still requires that the game contain no illegal or infringing content and that its marketing be consistent with the product.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which grey areas has Valve not settled?
Valve has not published a flowchart for every hybrid workflow. Open questions include AI upscaling of a human-painted texture, motion cleanup on human motion capture, machine-first localization later rewritten by a fluent editor, and how much overpainting removes a disclosure duty.
Practitioner guidance from Production Alchemist and Asset Forge takes a conservative operational position: if a generative model produced or materially transformed the shipped pixels, audio or words, disclose it. There is no stated Valve penalty for being over-inclusive, while an under-disclosure that players later identify creates a reputational and support risk. Labeling is safer than assuming a light edit automatically erases the model’s role.
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What should I do before submitting an AI-using game?
Use this sequence to make the survey, build and store page agree.
- Inventory player-facing material. Include the executable, downloadable content, store page, capsule art, trailers, community posts and other marketing.
- Record provenance. For each qualifying asset, note the model or service, plan, generation date, source material and human edits.
- Answer the threshold question. Select Yes if generative AI created content for the game or associated Steam materials.
- Write a specific Pre-Generated description. Name modalities and locations, then explain human review and exclusions.
- Document Live-Generated safeguards. Cover moderation, prompts, blocked terms, limits, logs, reports and fallback behavior.
- Verify rights and Steam compliance. Check commercial licenses, third-party permissions, age-rating rules, the Distribution Agreement and marketing accuracy.
- Plan payment for metered live AI. Choose a Steam-supported base-price, microtransaction, subscription or DLC approach.
- Exclude live-generated Adult Only Sexual Content. Valve currently refuses that category.
- Submit with schedule margin. Provide the survey, store page and build, and budget at least seven business days.
- Manage post-approval changes. Contact Steam Support before assuming a locked answer can be edited.
- Prepare other storefront answers separately. If you also publish on itch.io, track code use because its form asks about it.
What did Valve say about AI tools and game clones in October 2026?
At Steam Indie Connect in Busan on October 27–28, Valve representatives said there would be no new AI-tool ban. Tom Giardino said Valve does not want to gatekeep which tools developers use and asked developers to report clone-extortion threats so Valve could investigate, while noting that threats may also require law enforcement. Marc Wilkinson acknowledged discovery problems from low-quality releases but described ongoing work on Next Fest discovery rather than a new AI rule.
The January 2026 Content Survey wording therefore remains the operative standard: disclose player-facing generative content, explain live safeguards and continue meeting all ordinary Steam rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does an AI-made asset bought from a marketplace need disclosure on Steam?
If the asset ships and players consume it, the practical answer is yes, even when an outside seller generated it. Ask the vendor for written provenance and commercial-use terms, then list the asset in your disclosure inventory.
Will Steam’s AI disclosure appear on my store page?
Qualifying disclosures are presented publicly in an AI Generated Content Disclosure block with the developer’s explanation. Write it for players, because it can influence expectations about art, writing, voices and runtime systems.
Can a human editor make an AI translation count as non-AI content?
Valve has not defined a threshold for light polishing versus a full rewrite. Because localization is expressly named in the survey, disclose the model-assisted translation and describe the extent of fluent human rewriting.
What happens if a live AI service goes offline during play?
A resilient implementation should provide a moderated fallback response or disable generation rather than expose raw service errors or unfiltered output. Include that failure behavior in the guardrails description you submit.
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