Epic Games CEO Calls Steam AI Disclosure "Irresponsible"

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called Valve's mandatory generative AI disclosure for Steam games 'irresponsible,' arguing it stigmatizes developers and harms their chances of success. In a PC Gamer interview, Sweeney defended AI as a productivity tool that reduces drudge work, stating that the value of game development lies in the final product, not the creation method.

Epic Games CEO, Tim Sweeney, has a reputation for his hot takes on the gaming industry https://www.techpowerup.com/350268/epic-gamess-tim-sweeney-bets-on-interconnected-game-economies , and he has previously been vocal about both the perceived benefits of AI in gaming and his criticisms of its detractors https://www.techpowerup.com/343350/epic-games-ceo-dismisses-valves-generative-ai-disclosures . Now, the executive has expanded on his prior comments about Valve's mandatory generative AI disclosure, which he previously said "makes no sense for game stores," in a new interview https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/tim-sweeney-on-the-future-of-games-ai-and-whether-valve-will-ever-join-forces-with-epic-its-now-clear-that-nobodys-going-to-end-up-with-an-absolute-monopoly/ with PC Gamer. These comments follow the recent announcement that Unreal Engine 5.8 and Unreal Engine 6 will add more generative AI features https://www.techpowerup.com/350071/unreal-engine-5-8-paves-way-for-better-optimization-in-ue6 to the game engine. Addressing the question of AI art and how it may be more of a PR problem, Tim Sweeney said that "it's just a question of adaptation of tools, because there's nothing like a prompt-to-game solution on the horizon that anybody expects will work," going on to explain that artists at Epic Games are already using generative AI to "reduce the drudge work," referring to some of the more tedious parts of the 3D modelling and texturing process. He goes on to advocate for using AI, stating that "it's impossible to reconcile the idea that developers shouldn't use productivity-improving tools with the state of the industry." He goes on to explain that how you go about creating an in-game asset isn't important, and that "you might spend a million dollars modeling a flower pot to get the most detailed flower pot creatable by humanity, but you could also scan a flower pot with a very high resolution camera," and that "the value is not in creating a perfect flower pot...the real value is in building the scene and building the game and building the narrative." Ultimately, his argument is that AI makes it cheaper to make games and in-game assets, but he argues that "it's unfortunate that so many developers are put into this position. If you want to launch a game and get it as widely publicized as possible, you've got to put it on Steam...then you have to get this Scarlet Letter of AI attached to your product, and now there is a hater community trying to kill the game." He calls Valve's AI disclosure "irresponsible" and says that it makes it "much, much, much harder for a game developer to have a chance of success."