Tools
You disclose AI that ships in the game and reaches the player. You do not disclose AI that only helped you build it. That is the whole rule, and it is the distinction Valve added when it rewrote its generative-AI disclosure form on 16 January 2026, two years after introducing the original policy in January 2024.
The rewrite matters because the first version asked one blunt question — does your game use AI? — which caught a developer using an AI code assistant in the same net as one shipping generated art. The current form separates them.
The three categories
| What you used AI for | Disclose? | What you fill in |
|---|---|---|
| AI-powered tools for workflow efficiency, such as code helper software | No | Nothing |
| AI to generate content for the game (made in advance, shipped in the build) | Yes | A text box describing how you used the tools |
| AI content generated during gameplay (the game generates images, text or other content at runtime) | Yes | A checkbox |
The test underneath all three is whether the output ships with the game and is consumed by players. Internal tooling — including AI-assisted coding — sits outside the policy because nothing it produced reaches the player as content.
The scope is wider than the build
When AI generated content that requires disclosure, that disclosure covers the game and its associated material, including marketing assets and the store page itself. A generated key art image or a generated store description falls inside the policy even if not a single generated pixel is in the executable.
Pre-generated and live-generated are not the same filing
Pre-generated content gets a free-text explanation you write. Live generation gets a checkbox, because it is a materially different product: a game that calls a model at runtime can produce output neither you nor Valve has seen. Treating those identically was the original policy’s clearest flaw.
What this changes in practice
Most solo developers now disclose nothing
If you used a code assistant, generated some placeholder art you later replaced, or ran an AI tool over a spreadsheet, none of that ships. The disclosure field stays empty and the store page carries no notice.
Translation is the case people get wrong
Machine-translated store text and in-game strings do ship and are consumed by players. Several of the disclosures visible on Steam right now read as some variant of “AI for UI and some translations” — developers filing it correctly. If your localisation came out of a model and went into the build unedited, that is generated content in the shipped product.
The notice is a purchasing signal whether or not you like it
Steam renders the disclosure on the store page, and a visible share of buyers read it before purchasing. Our own look at the 54 idle games that shipped in a single week found AI disclosures on most of the new releases in that genre — which is exactly why the notice now functions as a genre marker as much as a legal one.
What is still unknown
Enforcement is opaque. Valve has not published how it audits disclosures, what happens to a game caught omitting one, or how many titles have been actioned. Reporting on the January 2026 rewrite covered the form’s wording, not the process behind it.
The text box is unverified. The pre-generated disclosure is prose the developer writes. Nothing described publicly suggests Valve validates its accuracy, which means two studios with identical practices can produce very differently worded notices.
Compliance does not buy you goodwill. Disclosing correctly is a store requirement, not a defence. Games have been review-bombed over generated art while carrying an accurate, complete disclosure — the policy governs whether you may sell, not how players will react. We covered where players are actually drawing that line separately.
The boundary will move. “Ships and is consumed by players” is a clean rule for art and text, and a murky one for procedural systems trained on data, upscaled textures and generated voice. Valve has revised this policy once in two years and there is no reason to assume the current wording is final.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have to disclose AI on Steam?
Only if the AI-generated content ships with your game and is consumed by players. AI tools used purely in development, such as code assistants, are exempt.
Does using AI to write code require Steam disclosure?
No. Valve classifies AI-powered tools used for workflow efficiency, including code helper software, as exempt from disclosure because their output is not player-facing content.
When did Steam update its AI disclosure rules?
On 16 January 2026. Valve introduced the original disclosure policy in January 2024 and rewrote the developer form two years later to separate development tools from shipped content.
What is the difference between pre-generated and live-generated AI on Steam?
Pre-generated content is created before release and shipped in the build, and requires a written description of how the tools were used. Live-generated content is created by the game while the player is playing, and requires ticking a separate box.
Does AI-generated marketing art need to be disclosed on Steam?
Yes. The disclosure covers the game alongside associated material such as marketing assets and the store page, so generated key art or store imagery falls inside the policy.
Do AI translations need to be disclosed on Steam?
If the translated text ships in the game or on the store page and reaches players, it is generated content in the shipped product and falls under the disclosure requirement.
Where does the AI disclosure appear on Steam?
On the game store page, where buyers can read it before purchasing. It is one of the pieces of information players increasingly check before buying in genres where generated content is common.
Sources and citation
- Game Developer, Valve tweaks and clarifies AI disclosure rules for Steam — source for the 16 January 2026 date, the three disclosure categories and the scope covering marketing assets and store pages
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/valve-tweaks-and-clarifies-ai-disclosure-rules-for-steam - KitGuru, Steam updates its gen-AI disclosure policies — source for the “ships with your game and is consumed by players” test and the exemption for AI-assisted coding, reporting originally credited to GameDiscoverCo
https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/mustafa-mahmoud/steam-updates-its-gen-ai-disclosure-policies/ - PC Gamer, Steam Week in Review — source for the prevalence of AI disclosures among new idle-game releases
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/steam-week-in-review-54-idle-games-released-on-steam-last-week-and-many-look-eerily-similar/
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