Valve's controversial decision: Blocking video games with AI-Generated assets

Valve has reportedly been blocking video games that use AI-generated assets from Steam. This was revealed in a Reddit post that shared a message from the company explaining the restriction. While Steam's rules do not explicitly prohibit AI-made content, they do state that using content without proper ownership or rights is not allowed, and they have expressed uncertainty about the rights associated with the underlying AI technology used to create the assets. This poses challenges when it comes to AI-generated art, as determining copyright ownership and legal rights becomes difficult.

Valve requires developers to confirm ownership rights to the dataset used to train the AI in creating the assets, and the failure to remove AI-generated content that relies on potentially copyrighted material can result in the game being banned from Steam. This apparently also includes games that use AI-made text or music, not just graphics. So this whole deal adds complexity to the copyright debate, as it raises the question of who owns the rights - the AI company or the developer using the AI-generated artwork.

There is speculation that the AI game bans could be a hoax, but their authenticity remains unclear. However, there are games on Steam that openly disclose their use of AI-created art and text in their descriptions, suggesting that there may not be a strict AI "ban" on the platform, or perhaps this is only being applied to new games. Either way, as the debate around AI-generated content and copyright ownership continues you may want to try other alternatives to Steam such as GOG.com or itch.io to find this type of content, although it remains to be seen how Valve and other gaming platforms navigate this complex issue in the future.