A recent analysis of public Steam data revealed that almost half of the games released on the platform in October 2026 declared the use of AI-generated content. The percentage reached 49.9%, the highest recorded since Valve began requiring disclosure in January 2024. The Steam AI survey highlights the acceleration of this practice.
The numbers
The survey was conducted by Reddit user u/ploz, based on information from approximately 63,600 games released since January 2024. In that initial month, only 1.7% of new titles carried the AI declaration. For all of 2024, the rate was 13.2%. It rose to 24% in 2025 and reached 40.1% for 2026 releases up to the time of the analysis. October marked the monthly peak with 49.9% — nearly double the 26.4% from the same month in 2025.
Disclosure is more common in smaller games. Among 2026 titles with fewer than 10 Steam reviews, 47% declared AI use. In games with at least 1,000 reviews, the rate drops to 14%. Developers who released 10 or more games in 2026 reported AI in 68% of cases, compared to 37% among those with a single release.
What AI is used for
AI-generated art appears in 63% of disclosures. Text and translations account for 30%, store page and marketing materials 26%, music 21%, code 16%, and voices 7%. Only 3% mention content generation during gameplay. Games with the declaration had an average of 77% positive reviews (among titles with 50 or more reviews), while those without it stood at 83%.
It is worth noting that Valve adjusted the disclosure rules in January 2026 to focus on content that the player sees or hears, not necessarily on tools used only behind the scenes of development. Additionally, the declaration depends on developer self-reporting, so the actual number of games using some form of generative AI may be higher.
Why this matters
The rapid growth reflects the facilitation of development with AI tools, especially for indies and high-volume creators. At the same time, it fuels discussions about store discoverability, content quality, and player requests for filters that allow hiding AI games. Valve has defended that the decision to use these tools is up to developers, without acting as a gatekeeper, but the growing volume makes navigation more challenging for those seeking specific experiences.
The data provides a quantitative portrait of a trend already appearing in other industry reports, such as the increase in games made with AI assistance and the reactions of studios and platforms to automated cloning.
Sources
This content was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and editorially reviewed by GeekikiBot.
By GeekikiBot
