this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2025
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[–] ozymandias117@lemmy.world 61 points 2 days ago (1 children)

How many of the ~6,818 titles now disclosing generative AI use were already on Steam in 2024?

I.E. are a lot of these just games that had already been released, updating their disclosure statements based on Valve's new rules?

The article says 1/5 games released this year use it. I'm not sure if ~34,000 games have released on Steam in the last year

[–] MrGabr@ttrpg.network 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It is a little insane how many games release on any given day. On July 15, 2025, 150 "titles" (of which 78 are actual games, not demos or DLC) were added to the Steam store. I would guess that their data includes all titles, but even just 78 real games on what should be a slower-than-average random Tuesday could totally contribute to 34,000 games released in a year.

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[–] logicbomb@lemmy.world 48 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I read a story recently about how a graphic designer realized they couldn't compete anymore unless they used generative AI, because everybody else was. What they described wasn't generating an image and then using that directly. They said that they used it during the time when they're mocking up their idea.

They used to go out and take photographs to use as a basis for their sketches, especially for backgrounds. So it would be a real thing that they either found or set up, then take pictures. Then, the pictures would be used as a template for the art.

But with generative AI, all of that preliminary work can be done in seconds by feeding it a prompt.

When you think about it in these terms, it's unlikely that many non-indie games going forward will be made without the use of any generative AI.

Similarly, it's likely that it will be used extensively for quality checking text.

When you add in the crazy pressure that game developers are under, it's likely that they'll use generative AI much more extensively, even if their company forbids it. But the companies just want to make money. They'll use it as much as they think they can get away with, because it's cheaper.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago (4 children)

What I dread is a game lengthening dialog using AI. Some folks mistake quantity for quality, and make their games unbeatingly tedious. Just like games that lean heavily on procedurally generated content.

[–] hoch@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Funnily enough, I'm excited for new dialog in video games using generative AI. It would be nice for random NPCs to not have the same 3 recorded voicelines, but to actually change what they say based on what's happening around them.

But that's obviously a limited use for AI. It should definitely not be used to lengthen the game and clutter up storylines as you're kinda describing.

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[–] gerowen@lemmy.world 31 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Honestly, maybe I'm an old fart, but I refuse to knowingly buy games if they use AI instead of paying talented people to create works of art.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Well that's the problem isn't it it depends entirely on what the AI is being used for. The truth is we don't know because Steam doesn't tell us.

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[–] Gork@sopuli.xyz 27 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That thumbnail's got some hand body horror going on.

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[–] echodot@feddit.uk 23 points 2 days ago (3 children)

The way that valves AI tag works is kind of a problem.

There is no subtlety to it at all, if you use AI in any capacity during the development of the game you need to declare it via that tag yet all the tag then does is say "AI in this game", but there's a big difference between having the AI develop the entire story or produce all of the artwork, and having AI write boilerplate camera controls for a farming simulator.

[–] exu@feditown.com 13 points 2 days ago (4 children)

I agree that having more degrees of usage would be useful, but erring on the side of caution and declaring any AI use as a first step is better than doing nothing.

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[–] childOfMagenta@jlai.lu 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Does using copilot to code count as "made with AI" too?

[–] qevlarr@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Of course, that's why we need better guidelines. It's like beauty ads that have to declare they used Photoshop. Every photo is edited if you don't make it clear what you mean

[–] RandomVideos@programming.dev 10 points 2 days ago (16 children)

Why should something not be disclosed just because its common?

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It builds indifference to the disclaimer when it's too general. The California cancer label is a good example.

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[–] childOfMagenta@jlai.lu 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, I suspect the AI tag should apply to even more games then.

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[–] qevlarr@lemmy.world 23 points 2 days ago

Steam should combat shovelware whether it's AI slop or human slop

[–] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 21 points 2 days ago

I think the biggest problem is that steam is like 80+% shovelware and it's no surprise that a lot of those are using a bunch of AI generated "artwork." IMO it's no worse than a shitty asset flip and as others have pointed out, there are a lot of really cool things you could do with generative AI in game dev that aren't just slapping shitty pictures all over your product, and this doesn't capture the nuance. I would also assume that this number is lower than reality since it relies on tagging, and nobody is accurately tagging shitty scam games with less than a hundred downloads.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago (12 children)

what I want with AI games: Free conversations with NPCs who react to your actions.

what I don't want, endless slop

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[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 17 points 1 day ago (9 children)

I figure if people can’t be bothered to develop the games then I can’t be bothered to play them either.

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[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I have an acquaintance who is a lead Dev at an Indie studio where he is developing and training an NPC behaviour engine with thousands of responses and actions. Think fallout or mass effect response wheel, where 2-4 dialogue choices have 2-4 outcomes, but instead you can tell the NPC anything and it will have a different response. Or it will do different things whether you hand it a book, give it book, throw a potion at it or cast a healing spell on it or hug it. It could also change tactics if you tried to snipe it vs if you went at it melee. All of these are trained and accounted for and made in a way where it can be built into any game using a certain engine. And this is just aimed at generic npcs, not companions.

So if this is what disclosure of the use of generative AI means, I'm not against it. I think there is nuance to what can be done with it. Using final art assets? It's theft. Writing? Theft. NPC behaviour? Definitely not.

[–] shoo@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Strange to not qualify the last one as theft. If it's out putting code, it's from the same kind of training set. If it's out putting character responses, they're from that same literary training data.

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[–] newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That's a pretty big jump in a very short amount of time.

[–] ssroxnak@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago

I think it's mostly garbage shovelware

[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I wonder if games with UGC report they have AI content. (Games that allow for outside assets and code)

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[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Oooohhh Grooosssssss! It's gonna fucking overtake the real content so fast, now. jfc, how do we even sort them out if the "creators" don't follow the disclosure rules?

[–] morphballganon@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Read reviews. Examine promotional materials. Discuss with friends.

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