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Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says it "makes no sense" that game stores are labeling titles that were made using AI since "AI will be involved in nearly all future production."
Sweeney was responding to a tweet from Matt Workman that argued "Steam and all digital marketplaces need to drop the 'Made with AI' label [because] it doesn’t matter any more." He added: "The only reason 'marketplaces' put that label is because they sell to artists who put up a stink initially. But it already looks ridiculous and is not enforceable. And guess what TYPE of system they use to detect IP infringement."
"Agreed," Sweeney tweeted, though he acknowledged that "The AI tag is relevant to art exhibits for authorship disclosure, and to digital content licensing marketplaces where buyers need to understand the rights situation."
Generative AI is now endemic in the game industry; it's used in everything from artwork to voice-overs and even dialogue. Online game stores like Steam allow AI content, but have required developers to clearly label games that were made with AI since January 2024.
On X, many people disagreed with Sweeney, with one saying they don't like "AI slop" and would prefer to support a "real artist."
Companies like Nintendo and Obsidian Entertainment have said they don’t plan on using generative AI for their games in the near future. However, AI-generated content is becoming more common on the game industry’s biggest platforms. In July, research from Totally Human Media found that 7,818 titles on Steam now disclose generative AI usage—7% of Steam’s entire library of roughly 114,126 titles—up from just 1% the prior year.
Sweeney is a big believer in the AI-led future of game design, and this isn't the first time he's made bold claims about the future. At a company event earlier this year, he told IGN that the technology for a 10-person development team to build a game on the scale of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is "totally going to be within reach over the next few years.”
The CEO claimed that generative AI will mean "entirely new genres of games invented that weren't possible or practical before” without it.