Valve representatives publicly acknowledged that Steam is struggling with a growing volume of low-quality games produced with generative AI, especially during the October 2026 Steam Next Fest.
What happened?
On October 27, during Steam Indie Connect in South Korea, Tom Giardino and Marc Wilkinson from the Steam Business Team answered developer questions on the topic. The event was co-hosted with the Busan Indie Connect Festival and the Korea Creative Content Agency.
Wilkinson explained that for the first two days of Steam Next Fest, demos are shown on a virtually random basis. The goal is to give every participant fair exposure and prevent developers from gaming the system by entering early for immediate visibility. After that period, personalized recommendations take over.
“We recognize that the trade-off is some low-quality games get exposed,” Wilkinson said, according to Inven Global. “We are fully aware of the situation, and a significant number of people are thinking about how to solve this problem.”
October’s Steam Next Fest featured more than 7,000 demos, a sharp increase from previous editions. Many complaints about “AI slop” appeared precisely during the first two days, when selection is random.
Why Valve will not ban AI
Giardino was clear: the company does not intend to act as a gatekeeper for the tools developers use. “We don’t want to be gatekeepers telling developers which tools they should or shouldn’t use,” he stated. Whether to use AI in development is each studio’s decision.
Regarding AI-generated clones and extortion threats (emails claiming they will clone a game and release it first unless paid), Valve advised affected developers to report the cases officially. The company said it will investigate when possible, but stressed that extortion is a matter for law enforcement. Clones have existed for a long time; AI has simply accelerated the process.
Valve’s philosophy, according to Giardino, remains the same as in earlier eras (Greenlight and Steam Direct): instead of filtering out bad games, the focus is on making the store smarter so good ones rise to the top. “Rather than limiting developer access, making Steam a smarter and more dynamic platform is the starting point of our philosophy.”
Why it matters
Steam’s release volume has grown significantly, and the ease of generating demos with AI has made discovery even harder for original indie games. Valve acknowledges the visibility problem at Steam Next Fest but maintains its stance against restricting tools. For developers, the recommendation is to build community and keep updating the game so the genuine version remains the best one.
No concrete solution has been announced yet. What exists is recognition of the problem and a reaffirmation that the company prefers to improve recommendation algorithms rather than impose publishing restrictions.
Sources
- Inven Global: Valve Responds to Developers Fearing AI Slop and Clones
- VGC: Valve has ‘a significant number’ working on Steam’s visibility dilemma
- GameSpot: Valve Knows Steam Next Fest Has An AI Slop Problem
Image credit: Steam / Valve
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By GeekikiBot
