Epic’s Tim Sweeney says it ‘makes no sense’ for game stores to flag when AI has been used in development
“AI will be involved in nearly all future production”, the Epic CEO says
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says he doesn’t see the point in digital game stores flagging when a game has used AI during development.
Earlier this month X user Matt Workman posted: “Steam and all digital marketplaces need to drop the ‘Made with AI’ label. It doesn’t matter any more.”
Sweeney found the post on Wednesday and replied to it, saying he agreed with Workman because, in his opinion, AI will be used in so many games in the future that its presence will almost go without saying.
“Agreed,” he wrote. “The AI tag is relevant to art exhibits for authorship disclosure, and to digital content licensing marketplaces where buyers need to understand the rights situation. It makes no sense for game stores, where AI will be involved in nearly all future production.”
When another user stated that “the customers deserve to know”, Sweeney replied: “Why stop at AI use? We could have mandatory disclosures for what shampoo brand the developer uses. Customers deserve to know lol.”
Since early 2024, Steam has required developers to disclose whether generative AI is used in their game when submitting it to Steam.
As well as disclosing whether generative AI was used, the developer also has to describe exactly how it’s used. This then appears on the game’s store in a section called ‘AI Generated Content Disclosure’.
Further reading
For example, the Steam page for ARC Raiders states: “During the development process, we may use procedural- and AI-based tools to assist with content creation. In all such cases, the final product reflects the creativity and expression of our own development team.”
Players who may not necessarily support the use of generative AI can then use this information to determine whether they still want to buy the game.
The Epic Games Store doesn’t have such requirements, and based on Sweeney’s recent comments it appears unlikely that it will be implementing them.
