The advance of artificial intelligence does not go unnoticed in the video game industry, and Steam He knows it better than anyone. The Valve platform has announced an important change in its game approval policy. From now on, it will admit those that have used AI both in their development and in the generation of content in real time.
This represents a crucial change for Steam, considering that in mid-2023 it was in the eye of the storm after prohibiting the distribution of titles with artistic elements created with generative artificial intelligence. At that time, Gabe Newell’s people explained that the veto responded to the developers’ inability to demonstrate that the assets used were their property.
The discontent of some studios later led to Steam clarifying that it was “not discouraging” the use of AI in games. But even so, it was forced to impose certain limits to legally cover itself. “Our review process is a reflection of the laws and policies of copyright current ones, not an additional layer with our opinion,” Valve said.
Now the company has reported that will apply changes to its review methodology for games created using artificial intelligence. Something that, although it will force developers to report the use of said technology, will allow “the vast majority” of titles to be approved and added to the Steam catalog.
Steam’s new policies to support games created using AI
Steam has added a new artificial intelligence section to the form that studios and developers must fill out when submitting a game for review. In it they will have to describe how the technology has been used, whose implementation will be divided into two categories. These are “previously generated” and “generated in real time”.
The first section covers the use of AI during the development of the video game. This includes taking advantage of tools to create visual and sound materials, as well as those that allow automatic code generation or completion. Steam indicates that studios will have to ensure that their titles do not contain illegal content or that violates their terms and conditions.
The second section, meanwhile, will require studios to reveal whether they use artificial intelligence to create content while the game is running. In this case, it will be mandatory to report the protection measures implemented to avoid the generation of illegal or unauthorized material.
Of course, Valve will not keep this information secret. Regardless of what stage of development AI was used, Approved games will display a banner notifying users of the use of this technology on their Steam page. Additionally, players will be able to report illegal content within the titles.
Specific restrictions remain
While Steam claims that the “vast majority” of AI games will be approved, certain restrictions still remain. The proposals that will continue to be prohibited will be those that include sexual content for adults generated in real time with AI.
In this way, Gabe Newell’s team aspires not to miss the opportunity to take advantage of the craze for this technology in the video game sector. But at the same time they are covered against any possibility of being sued for the distribution of games that have violated copyright or other laws with the implementation of artificial intelligence.
Steam too has apologized with the developers for the time taken to define this new policy. “[…] We don’t feel like we’re serving our players or developer partners by rushing through decisions that have so much complexity. “We will continue to learn from games submitted to Steam and legal progress around AI, and will review this decision when necessary,” they explained.