Valve doesn't want to "discourage" AI content in games, but will act in line with copyright law
"We're working through how to integrate it into our already-existing review policies."
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After a developer's game was rejected for using AI-generated art, Valve has clarified its stance on whether it will allow it on the platform.
Last month, a developer shared a post in the aigamedev subreddit that their game had been rejected from appearing on Steam by Valve, admitting that some of the art was "obviously AI generated." Valve specifically noted the use of AI-generated art, which it couldn't determine if the developer had rights to or not, as the main reason behind the opportunity behind the rejection, offering one opportunity to remove any art the dev didn't have the rights to. The developer simply changed the art by hand, but seemingly not completely, and the game was again rejected. This left some questions over Valve's stance on AI-generated content in games, but in a statement to Eurogamer, the company has offered an amount of clarification.
Valve apparently shared that it is continuing to learn about AI, and how it can be used in development, as well as how it will factor into the games it allows on Steam. "Our priority, as always, is to try to ship as many of the titles we receive as we can," Valve said, discussing how AI may make this process harder, as it isn't always clear when devs have the "sufficient rights in using AI to create assets, including images, text, and music."
In terms of the legal uncertainty around the use of AI-generated work, Valve said, "it is the developer's responsibility to make sure they have the appropriate rights to ship their game."
"We know it is a constantly evolving tech, and our goal is not to discourage the use of it on Steam; instead, we're working through how to integrate it into our already-existing review policies. Stated plainly, our review process is a reflection of current copyright law and policies, not an added layer of our opinion. As these laws and policies evolve over time, so will our process."
Essentially, it sounds like Valve doesn't want to get in any kind of legal trouble as everything is still a bit murky when it comes to the use of AI in media as a whole.
The developer mentioned earlier isn't the only one that uses AI art in games, as even the much higher profile High On Life did. The Squanch Games title used Midjourney for things like posters, but Midjourney is also potentially in a bit of legal trouble due to potentially using artwork without artists' consent, though obviously High On Life is still on Steam despite this. It's likely that Valve hasn't quite figured out its full stance on the matter, so we'll have to wait and see as copyright laws regarding AI develop.