Three Years of AI on Steam
11 hours ago
- #Steam analytics
- #generative AI
- #AI in gaming
- Valve's AI disclosure mandate started in January 2024, and by mid-2026, about one in three new Steam games included an AI disclosure.
- Monthly Steam releases grew significantly, with 60–90% of the increase from 2023 to 2026 attributed to AI-disclosed games, while non-AI launches rose only modestly.
- AI-disclosed games account for a smaller share of sales (10–27% in late 2025–2026) than their share of launches (~33%), indicating that more AI games are being released, but they are not individually more successful.
- Most AI games are commercial failures, with the median game earning around $300; AI revenue is highly volatile and dependent on a few hits.
- Disclosed AI use is predominantly visual, especially among unsuccessful games, while successful games are more likely to use AI for voice, localization, and text, and they provide more detailed and reassuring disclosures.
- About 22% of significant-revenue AI games added the disclosure flag retroactively, often around Valve's policy update in January 2026, indicating compliance-driven relabeling.