Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney Criticizes Steam Artificial Intelligence Disclosure Policy

Tim Sweeney, the chief executive officer of Epic Games, has criticized digital video game storefront Steam over its rules requiring game developers to declare their use of artificial intelligence, calling the policy a political act. GamesIndustry.biz, IGN and Kotaku all reported on the remarks made on social media platform X. GamesIndustry.biz and Kotaku reported that Sweeney called forcing developers to write such statements abhorrent. [1][3][4][8][9][10]

According to GamesIndustry.biz, Sweeney agreed with a user who called the policy absurd and claimed that the disclosures are used to drive target action by a hate mob. IGN reported that Epic Games is a long-standing rival to Valve, the company that operates Steam. IGN also noted that Sweeney is a majority owner of Epic Games, which recently pivoted to retool for maximum artificial intelligence acceleration. [1][3]

PC Gamer reported that Valve initially introduced artificial intelligence content disclosures because of legal uncertainties surrounding the technology in game development. Valve stated that the changes followed discussions with game developers and tool creators to better understand risks while opening the platform to games that use artificial intelligence technology. [2]

The Epic Games Store launched in December 2018 as a digital distribution service for Microsoft Windows and macOS, competing directly against Steam on personal computers. Epic Games later expanded the platform to Android and iOS mobile devices in August 2024. [3][11]