--- title: "Steam Is Apparently Rejecting Games Using AI Generated Assets" description: "Steam, one of the world's largest video game storefronts is reportedly not having any of this AI generated stuff." date: "2023-07-02" modified: "2023-07-02" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/steam-rejecting-games-using-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai generated images" - "steam" - "the digest" - "video games" --- # Steam Is Apparently Rejecting Games Using AI Generated Assets ![Steam, one of the world's largest video game storefronts is reportedly not having any of this AI generated stuff.]() *BELLEVUE, UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 26: Portrait of American video game developer Gabe Newell, photographed at Valve Corporations offices in Bellevue, Washington, on February 26, 2020. (Photo by Olly Curtis/Future Publishing via Getty Images) \Image: Getty Images\* ## Losing Steam Another heavyweight of the gaming industry seems to be wrestling with the shaky legality of generative AI. Valve, who owns the game client and storefront Steam, is reportedly stopping games that use AI-generated art assets from being sold on its massively popular platform. The news comes from an anonymous developer who claims their attempts to submit a game to Steam were blocked. In a [post]() that's gone viral after being [shared on Twitter](), the developer admits that a large portion of their game's assets "have some AI involvement," later adding that they used [Stable Diffusion](). A fatal error. A Valve moderator responded that Steam couldn't list the game because they identified it contained AI generated art assets "that appear to be relying on copyrighted material owned by third parties." "As the legal ownership of such AI-generated art is unclear," the moderator added, "we cannot ship your game while it contains these AI-generated assets, unless you can affirmatively confirm that you own the rights to all of the IP used in the data set that trained the AI to create the assets in your game." The game developer says they then "improved" those assets to remove "obvious signs of AI," but were still rejected after resubmitting. ## Prudent Policy Whether this moderator's response is official Valve policy remains to be seen because — in the company's usual taciturn fashion — it has so far not publicly clarified its position. The careful wording seemingly would allow for an in-house AI [like Blizzard's]() that's trained exclusively on assets that the developer owns, but could still spell bad news for the [Unity game engine's new AI](). It's hard to figure out a coherent position, especially when there already appears to be [games]() on the platform that use AI generated assets, [as spotted by *Ars Technica*](). Regardless, from what we can tell, it looks like Valve — perhaps prudently — is choosing to sit this one out. And we don't blame 'em, because the legality surround a generative AI's output is highly contentious. Artists have [sued the companies]() behind AI image generators for [training on their copyrighted art]() without permission or compensation. Getty Images has also [filed a lawsuit]() along similar lines. The pending outcomes of those lawsuits could play a massive role in shaping the ownership of AI images, and Valve may simply not want to be complicit in copyright infringement by shipping games that may incorporate stolen assets. **More on:** *[Rejoice, Drake! AI Barred From Winning a Grammy]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()