Valve changes policy regarding AI generated video game content

The use of AI to generate content inside video games is quite controversial, while many believe it is not acceptable, a similar amount of people also support it.

Last year, a user revealed that Valve does not accept video games using AI-generated content. Valve responded that the main reason was the current copyright law and policies. The company does not want to discourage any user from making use of AI and with time, their policies also evolve along with laws.

With that said, Valve released an update regarding the same. Over the last few years, Valve has been in touch with developers and learning about the AI space. This led to the company making changes that will allow more games using AI-generated content.

New policy

The Content Survey for developers will now include a new AI disclosure section that will allow devs to describe how AI is implemented in their games. It will help in two broad categories of Pre-Generated and Live-Generated games.

• Pre-Generated: Games that use AI-generated content during development will be put into this category. They will need a promise that the game will not involve any illegal or infringing content.
• Live-Generated: Games that use AI to generate content while the player is playing will be included in this category. This will also have the requirements for Pre-Generated games however, devs will need to provide details about prevention measures that will prevent it from generating illegal content.

The disclosure will further be verified during the game review. Valve is also adding a report function for gamers. In case any illegal content slips past Valve during the review process, gamers will get a chance to report it.

While AI content is generally not appreciated much, it does help small or solo developers to lessen the hurdles during development. For sure, it will flood Steam with even more games, however, players might see something good once in a while.