Tim Sweeney slams Steam AI disclosure as 'political'

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has gone after the Steam AI disclosure again, calling Valve's requirement a forced "political statement" and "abhorrent". He kept arguing the point all weekend, while Valve has said nothing.

Key facts

• Who: Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney
• What: Criticism of Steam's generative AI content disclosure
• First post: October 23, 2026, on X
• Valve response: None so far
• Scope of the rule: Content that ships with a game and is consumed by players

What did Tim Sweeney say about the Steam AI disclosure?

It started when an AI advocate posted that an AI content disclosure was absurd in 2026. Kotaku reports that Sweeney replied on October 23, saying that forcing developers to write a political statement to be used against them by "the hate mob" was "abhorrent".

IGN says Sweeney spent the weekend doubling down. He compared the disclosure to asking developers to reveal their political affiliation and claimed the labels mainly fuel cancel campaigns. In a post quoted by Kotaku, he argued that besides taking 30%, Valve is "potentially" taking an even larger share of developers' revenue by undermining their businesses.

How did developers respond?

Not everyone agreed. IGN quotes David Goldfarb, founder of Metal: Hellsinger studio The Outsiders: "Customers have a right to know what they're buying." He added that players will still buy the games they want, AI or not, and that calling it a hate mob was far-fetched.

Kotaku also points out that Epic's own asset marketplace, Fab, asks for AI disclosures. In an October 25 reply, Sweeney said that was different because Fab is a business-to-business store whose customers need to know where content comes from.

What does the Steam AI disclosure actually cover?

Valve's Steamworks documentation explains that developers fill in a Content Survey before release. The third section covers generative AI. Valve says efficiency gains from AI-powered dev tools are "not the focus". Instead, the section is about AI used to create content that ships with the game and is consumed by players.

• Covered: artwork, sound, narrative, localisation and similar content
• Pre-Generated: AI-assisted content made during development that ships with the game
• Live-Generated: content created by AI while the game is running
• Extra rule: live-generated AI needs a description of guardrails against illegal content

Kotaku notes that Valve loosened the rules this year, dropping the need to mention AI used for code. On store pages, the disclosure sits in small text near the bottom, next to content warnings.

Steam vs Epic: how do they compare?

Topic	Steam	Epic Games Store
Store cut	30% from the first sale	No cut until $1 million, then 12%
AI disclosure	Required for player-facing content	Opposed by Sweeney
Recent news	43.5 million concurrent users record in October	New launcher built with AI 'vibe coding'

Revenue share figures come from Kotaku; the user record and launcher details come from IGN. IGN also notes that Unreal Engine is promoting an Epic AI MegaJam that starts on November 12.

Has Valve responded?

No. As IGN puts it, Valve has stayed quiet throughout. Nothing changes for players for now: AI information remains on Steam store pages.

For more Steam news, check our Steam Next Fest October 2026 most-played demos round-up and the Steam Awards 2023 winners.

FAQ

What is the Steam AI disclosure?

It is part of Valve's Content Survey. Developers must say whether generative AI was used for content that ships with the game and reaches players, such as art, sound, story or localisation.

Why is Tim Sweeney against it?

He argues the label singles developers out for harassment, works like a political statement and costs them sales.

Has Valve replied to Sweeney?

No. According to IGN, Valve has not commented.

Sources

• IGN - Tim Sweeney Doubles Down on Valve Criticism
• Kotaku - Epic Boss Tim Sweeney Calls Steam's AI Declarations Political
• Steamworks Documentation - Content Survey