Valve says AI-generated content policy goal is "not to discourage the use of it on Steam"
"We know it is a constantly evolving tech."
Last week, a Steam developer suggested Valve was banning games featuring AI-generated content on its platform, after reporting that their game had been rejected for using "fairly obviously AI-generated" assets.
The developer was given a second chance to resubmit their game but said, via Reddit, that this was also rejected - due to them not owning the necessary rights.
Now, in a statement provided to Eurogamer, Valve has clarified a few points on this post, and provided further insight into how it will police AI-generated content on Steam in general.
Valve stated it was continuing to learn about AI, as well as the ways it can be used in game development and how it will factor in when the company reviews the games it allows on Steam.
"Our priority, as always, is to try to ship as many of the titles we receive as we can," Valve said, noting the introduction of AI may make this process harder as it is not always easy to know when a developer has "sufficient rights in using AI to create assets, including images, text, and music".
Valve then touched on the legal uncertainty around the use of certain AI generated assets, stating "it is the developer's responsibility to make sure they have the appropriate rights to ship their game".
Valve continued: "We know it is a constantly evolving tech, and our goal is not to discourage the use of it on Steam; 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."
Valve said it will continue to "welcome and encourage innovation" on its platform, understanding that AI technology is bound to play a part in this. However, it reiterated that "while developers can use these AI technologies in their work with appropriate commercial licences", they "can not infringe on existing copyrights".
Valve's statement closed: "Lastly, while App-submission credits are usually non-refundable, we're more than happy to offer them in these cases as we continue to work on our review process."
AI is a hot topic of discussion across the video game industry right now. Several developers have flirted with this new technology, with the likes of Ubisoft announcing its Ghostwriter AI tool earlier this year. The High on Life team also used AI to create video game voice dialogue.
Meanwhile, System Shock publisher Prime Matter got into some hot water earlier in the year, when it used AI generated art as a marketing stunt for the remake.
For more on this subject, be sure to check out Chris Tapsell's recent feature all about the games industry's response to AI, which you can read by following this link.
Additionally, several prolific video game voice actors have discussed their scepticism of whether AI can truly replicate human performances and what its impact could be on the voice acting industry, including Jane Perry, Troy Baker, Jennifer Hale and David Hayter.