Valve Opens the Door To More Steam Games Developed With AI

Valve has issued new rules about how game developers can publish games that use AI technology on Steam. From a report: Writing in a blog post, the company says that it is "making changes to how we handle games that use AI technology" which mean that developers will need to disclose when their games use it. The changes "will enable us to release the vast majority of games that use" AI, Valve's post says. The changes appear designed to increase transparency around the use of AI in Steam games, while offering protections against the risks of using AI generated content and allowing customers to make an informed choice about whether to buy a game that uses AI technology.

Under the new rules, developers will need to disclose when games contain pre-generated content (like art, code, or sound) created with the help of AI and promise that it's not "illegal or infringing." They'll also need to say if their game has AI content that is generated "live" while it is running. It's in the latter case when developers will need to detail the safety measures they put in place to stop their AI from generating illegal content. Players will be able to see on a game's store page if it contains AI, and have new options to report illegal AI-generated content if they encounter it in-game.

BOO!

[DarkRookie2]

They need to let less trash on Steam and not enable it.
Steam is becoming like every other app store. It is so filled with garbage, you either know what you are looking for or you are fucked looking for anything.

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[gweihir]

Not actually true. You need to be literate and look at user reviews, but if you can actually understand written statements of that nature, it is pretty easy to get the measure of a game before buying. You can also refund as long as you play shorter than 2 hours and apply within 2 weeks. For stuff that ends up controversial, you often can get a refund a lot later. I have done it on occasion, never a problem and never got the request rejected.

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[DarkRookie2]

Cool. That stuff is all well and good.

AFTER I FIND THE GAME!

That is the issue. I know about user reviews. I know about the refund policy.
Its finding it that is the problem. Not what to do with it after I do.

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[Narcocide]

Maybe you should use AI to find one.

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[gweihir]

Hehehe, that may give you good recommendations for games that do not actually exist, though.

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[gweihir]

You have trouble finding good games? Well, if your tastes are special enough that may be an issue. If not, I recommend reading some game magazines. I have one on subscription. I also find that the STEAM recommendations are somewhat useful in this regards and that the discussions on games I like often include recommendations for others like them. You are also free to ask for "Any other games like this one?" and usually you should get some good responses. The latter works especially well for niches where ther

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[DarkRookie2]

So my options, to you, are look at ads, looks at ads, ask idiots for advice.
Honestly, it is better than what Steam offers, but it isn't a good system.

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[bjwest]

Cool. That stuff is all well and good. AFTER I FIND THE GAME! That is the issue. I know about user reviews. I know about the refund policy. Its finding it that is the problem. Not what to do with it after I do.

Don't blame poor tools for your incompetence.

I have never in my life used Steams abysmal store interface to find a game to play, that's what friends and the internet are for. If I run across a game I think I may find interesting, then, and only then, I search for it by name on Steam and take into account the user reviews there before making a purchase. I do look at what's on the main store page while on the website, but to try to utilize Steams search function, I'd probably end up gouging my eyes out and

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[stwrtpj]

Not actually true. You need to be literate and look at user reviews, but if you can actually understand written statements of that nature, it is pretty easy to get the measure of a game before buying. You can also refund as long as you play shorter than 2 hours and apply within 2 weeks. For stuff that ends up controversial, you often can get a refund a lot later. I have done it on occasion, never a problem and never got the request rejected.

What I find is very useful is to filter on the negative reviews, even if the overall rating is "overwhelmingly positive". What I look for are trends. For example, are there a lot of people complaining about a specific bug? I've passed up on a few games that otherwise had largely positive reviews but had trends in the negative reviews that I didn't like. Conversely, I've had a few that were borderline and the primary complaint was "too much dialog!" which to me was a positive (it was a visual novel; seriousl

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[DarkRookie2]

The reviews are meaningless.
Both Hades and Vampire Survivors are 97% Overwhelmingly Positive. Both I requested a refund since they were so bad.

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[mjwx]

Not actually true. You need to be literate and look at user reviews, but if you can actually understand written statements of that nature, it is pretty easy to get the measure of a game before buying. You can also refund as long as you play shorter than 2 hours and apply within 2 weeks. For stuff that ends up controversial, you often can get a refund a lot later. I have done it on occasion, never a problem and never got the request rejected.

Honestly I've never done a refund via Steam, I tend to be quite picky with the games I buy. The worst purchase I made was an early access game by a popular minor publisher that never left early access. I'm not really worried about the money. My point is, Steam is pretty good at separating the wheat from the chaff, the reviews are also pretty good as well as they tend to come from people who actually own and have played the game (I.E. it will list the hours the person has spent in game on the review).

Then

AI is just a Tool

[Roger W Moore]

Using AI does not make a game bad, it's the developers who do that and they do not need AI to do it. Why would you want to ban, say an RPG, that uses AI to make its NPCs more real or a strategy game uses AI to be far less predictable and to adapt to the strategy the player is using against it so it is not a case that once you figure out how to beat it the game becomes easy? You could even use it to enhance existing games, for example using AI to make Minecraft's mobs behave intelligently and learn from the

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[Chelloveck]

I mean sure, I guess I agree. IF you use Steam to discover new games, having more games to sift through is bad. But why would you use Steam for that? As you've already pointed out, it's not very good at it. It's a store. You go there to buy a game after you've already heard about it elsewhere.

If you heard about a cool game and you couldn't find a place to buy it, that would be a problem. Having a store with just too many titles? Not a problem. That's why there's a search function. If it helps, limit you

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[DarkRookie2]

That's why there's a search function.

Search only works if you know what you are looking for.

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[bjwest]

That's why there's a search function.

Search only works if you know what you are looking for.

Do you go into a B&M store looking for something to buy, with no idea what you want, or do you go in looking for something(s) specific you already know you need/want that you already know about from some other source than just looking around on the shelves? Hell, do you "browse" Amazon.com looking for something to buy?

If your answer to either of those questions is 'YES', then you fail at 'consumerism', and are one of the sheeple who are consumers rather than customers.

Re: BOO!

[ToasterMonkey]

They need to let less trash on Steam and not enable it.
Steam is becoming like every other app store. It is so filled with garbage, you either know what you are looking for or you are fucked looking for anything.

Yes, but BECOMING? Steam has been full of Early Access, perpetual beta, kickstarted half baked concepts, made for streaming trash for a long time now. I just can't believe we're OK with the whole early access system going on right now but AI content, oh noes!

Sounds reasonable

[gweihir]

This way, new tech (and one of the few actual used for the current AI hype may well be games since there hallucinations do not matter that much) can be used, but people get told about it before they buy.

Sounds absurd

[Rei]

"Oh, sure, you're using algorithms in your game, but you're using the wrong algorithms..."

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[timeOday]

It's not actually the algorithms, but the information stored in the AI. For example generating an image from an untrained neural network, vs. a trained one is the identical algorithm. But if the trained network weights have learned and produce child porn, then there is a problem.

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[Rei]

They produce what you tell them to (assuming they're capable of it).

If your game is telling them to produce child porn, it's not the neural network that's the problem.

What exactly is "AI Tech" and "AI Tools"?

[Some Guy]

Valve aren't defining "AI technology" (at least in their post), so it could be almost anything. I suspect they may be targetting the "Generative AI" fad, but they don't say so directly.

Any kind of content (art/code/sound/etc) created with the help of AI tools during development.

That's almost everything these days depending on how you define it.

Without knowing what kind of AI & the scope, the disclosure seems mostly useless.

(Their post. [steamcommunity.com])

Within a year all new games will use AI

[Sakuta]

generated content. It is just saves too much money. The notice will be meaningless.