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Valve admits Steam has an AI slop and cloning problem, but says ‘we don’t want to be gatekeepers telling developers which tools they should or shouldn’t use’
Valve has acknowledged that AI-assisted game cloning and a flood of low-effort releases are making it harder for developers to protect their ideas and for players to find games. At a Steam event in Busan, company representatives said Valve does not want to dictate which tools developers use, and described improving Steam’s recommendations as its preferred way to address the volume.
Valve says games were copied before AI, though the technology can speed up the process; one developer reportedly received a threat to clone a game unless they paid. Valve’s Tom Giardino advised developers to build communities and keep adding distinctive features, while Marc Wilkinson said Steam initially gives games broad exposure at Next Fest before personalising recommendations. Nearly 23,000 games had been released on Steam by early November 2026, and Valve acknowledged there is room to improve its approach.
In short
- Valve recognises AI cloning and low-effort releases as problems on Steam.
- It favours better recommendations over restricting developers’ tools.
- Nearly 23,000 games had launched on Steam in 2026 by early November.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Valve’s reluctance to restrict AI tools reflects a reasonable concern that broad rules could limit legitimate experimentation and penalise developers using AI responsibly. With cloning predating AI and the volume of releases already high, improving recommendations and helping players find games may address discovery problems without making Valve the arbiter of acceptable creative tools.
The case against
Leaving tool use unrestricted can make it easier and faster to copy distinctive work, increasing the burden on developers to defend their ideas and making it harder for original games to stand out. Better recommendations may help players navigate a crowded store, but they do not directly protect creators from cloning or address the harms of low-effort releases; clearer safeguards could be justified even if they require difficult boundary-setting.
Explained simply
Steam is an online shop where people buy and download games for computers. Valve runs the platform, which hosts games from large studios and independent developers; its events, such as Next Fest, let players try upcoming releases.
Making a game’s artwork, writing or code with AI tools has become more common, and similar tools can also make it quicker to produce work resembling an existing game. Copying games predates AI, but a large number of new releases can make it harder for players to discover games and for smaller developers to stand out.
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