Valve Warns Against Publishing AI-Generated Video Games That Breach Copyright Laws

Valve, the company behind the popular Half-Life video game and Steam game distribution platform, was recently rumored to be implementing a ban on games featuring AI-generated assets.

However, the company has now released statements clarifying its position on publishing games with AI-generated content – stating that it is not against AI, but that its current stance is simply due to its evolving policies and should not infringe copyright.

This development comes after a game developer known as u/potterharry9 on Reddit claimed to have submitted his indie game for release on Steam, which contained a few AI-generated assets. He stated that his plan was to ship a “rough version” of the game with “AI-generated resources” and then refine it later. However, Steam refused to publish his game, stating that the game’s content contained content from “one or more third parties” and that the ownership of the AI content was unclear.

The developer resubmitted the game with refined AI content, but it was rejected again. Steam, in another instance, said: “While we aim to deliver most games submitted to us, we cannot submit games for which the developer does not have all the necessary rights.”

Valve added: “At this time, we refuse to distribute your game because it is unclear whether the underlying AI technology used to generate the assets has sufficient rights to the training data.”

Valve has also given an official notice to IGN that “our priority, as always, is to try and ship as many titles as we receive,” said Aitchison Boyle. “We welcome and encourage innovation, and AI technology is sure to create new and exciting gaming experiences. While developers can use these AI technologies in their work with appropriate commercial licenses, they cannot infringe on existing copyrights.”

Valve is also said to be reimbursing content creators for their app credits, which are not generally considered “refundable”.

Simply put, Valve and other publishers clearly disagree on whether or not to include AI-generated art and content in their games. The rise of generative AI has sparked numerous debates in other fields, including music and writing, as there is no clear definition of who owns AI-generated content.