The topic Dislike AI content in your games? 68.6% of Steam users disagree with you, says survey is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.
The acceptance of AI use in video games is a bit of a gray area. Some people are fine with it, some people loathe it, and some just don’t care. Then there are the gritty details: do you care if a game used generative AI to make images? What about using it for voice acting, NPC dialogue trees, or coding?
To help people make purchasing decisions, Valve has allowed developers to disclose if they used AI in their product. And as it turns out, around 68.6% of people quizzed in a survey said they’re either fine with buying a game with a disclosure or they just don’t care.
Part of the research covered what Steam users thought when they saw the AI content disclaimer. After all, if the majority of people clicked away when they saw it, it would mean that indie devs would need to abandon using AI tools for fear of backlash. However, the survey told an interesting tale:
Firstly, what do the fans think of buying games that show any type of AI disclosure? (PSA: all Steam games have to disclose this when they submit.) Well, it’s quite a mixed bag even now, with ~43% of players having no big issues, 26% being neutral, and around 31% viewing it negatively. (With 8% of those saying they just won’t buy…)
From this data, GameDiscoverCo’s takeaway stated that 31.4% was a considerable chunk of players that indie devs can’t risk alienating. And while I do agree with that statement, I also feel that the percentage is a little low. Given how people can react very negatively to discoveries of generative AI asset use in games, hearing that 68.6% of gamers, at worst, don’t really care for the disclaimer is strange.
What’s even more interesting is that this isn’t a case of people ignoring the AI disclosures. A whopping 89.1% of respondents said they’d either deliberately check for or at least glance at an AI disclosure, and 55.7% of them believe that AI coding tools should be declared. It just seems that people don’t really worry about it as much as we may think.
Steam has had plenty of competitors, but none of them came out on top. Why?