Valve has acknowledged concerns about developers using AI to quickly imitate successful or upcoming games, but says preventing such copies is largely up to the original developers rather than Steam. The company’s representatives suggested making games harder to replicate and building communities that will favor the original release.
At a developer conference held by the Busan Indie Connect Festival Organizing Committee in South Korea, Valve business team members Tom Giardino and Marc Wilkinson were asked whether Steam had measures in place, or planned, to prevent AI-generated game clones. The question came from a developer who said they had received an email threatening to copy their game with AI and release the clone first, according to InvenGlobal.
Giardino reportedly said the threat could be a matter for law enforcement, but did not commit Valve to taking direct action. “We don't want to be gatekeepers telling developers which tools they should or shouldn't use,” he said, as reported by InvenGlobal.
Instead, Giardino advised developers to make their games less easy to copy and to build active communities and trust. He argued that players may prefer the original when they have confidence in its creators, and that more complex games are harder to replicate.
The concern is affecting developers beyond any one region or genre. Digital Sun Games, the studio behind the Moonlighter series, is delaying a public playtest of its upcoming game ReVamp over fears that AI-made copies could reach the market first.
Valve has taken a broadly hands-off approach to Steam’s catalogue since 2018, when it adopted a policy of allowing games onto the store except for some cases, including illegal content and outright trolling. GameDeveloper.com said it had contacted Valve for further comment.
Sources: Game Developer.