Epic Games Boss Tim Sweeney Doubles Down on Valve Criticism, Says Steam's AI Content Disclosure Is a 'Political Act'

Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney spent the weekend doubling down on his severe criticism of Valve, calling Steam’s AI content disclosure a “political act.”

The controversial majority owner of Epic is all in on AI, having recently triggered a “huge pivot” of the company to retool it for “maximum AI acceleration,” Sweeney said. Epic is a long-standing rival of Gabe Newell’s Valve, with the Epic Games Store struggling to make a dent in Steam’s dominance over the PC gaming market even as it offers developers more financially beneficial terms.

Sweeney is particularly upset with Steam’s AI content disclosure policy, which requires developers to disclose the use of AI in “creating content that ships with your game, and is consumed by players.” This includes content such as artwork, sound, narrative, and localization. It does not include “efficiency gains” through the use of AI tools.

On Friday, Sweeney hit out at Valve’s policy, saying “forcing developers to write a political statement to …