AI is being used in all kinds of creative sectors, from design to video editing and VFX, but game design seems to be one of the fields where the tech has been taken up most quickly and with most enthusiasm. I’d already heard from developers that the use of AI tools was becoming widespread, but I’m still surprised by just how much.
A new report finds that the number of games on Steam that disclose the use of generative AI has risen by 700% in a year. The number is up from around 1,000 games a year ago to almost 8,000 now. That’s 7 per cent of the whole Steam library. And almost 20% of the games released this year disclose AI use.
On the one hand, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising given the vast array of different use cases for AI in video games. It isn’t only being used to generate awful-looking art. But it’s also surprising considering how many gamers are fiercely opposed to AI content.
The figures have intensified the debate about whether to accept AI in games – and to what extent (if you’re wondering where to start with your own project, see our guide to how to get started in game design and our roundup of interviews with some of the best indie developers).
The figures come from report by Totally Human Media. Some of the biggest games found to be disclosing AI use include My Summer Car (some AI generated paintings), Liar’s Bar (character voices) and The Quinfall (in-game interface images). The first of those has sold over 2.5 million copies.
One of the games that most proudly boasts of its generative AI use is GenAI Roguelite, for which a disclosure in the small print seems redundant. As the name suggests, the text-based RPG was entirely generated by AI: every location, NPC and game mechanic. Surprisingly, it has an 82% positive score from 432 player reviews.
People seem to like the chaos of the random outcomes and the game’s inability to maintain a coherent story. “Sometimes the AI will decide that you take damage and instantly die just for talking with a friendly NPC because why not?” one review says.
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“It looks worse than a DOS game, doesn’t make sense 90% of the time, occasionally is fun, requires a modern supercomputer to play. Welcome to the future of gaming,” wrote another person who actually recommended the game. This makes me think some people are enjoying it just for the silly novelty of it.
But not all games that disclose Gen AI use it so blatantly. According to Totally Human Media, some 60% used it for visual asset generation, from characters to backgrounds and textures. But others used large language models to generate voices and background music, text and story arcs, marketing materials, including game descriptions and for coding and for flagging offensive material for removal.
The steep increase in titles is suggestive of how quickly generative AI has been taken up by game developers, although it’s also possible that more developers are abiding by Valve’s rules. AI disclosure has only been mandatory since January 2024, and I suspect that many existing games’ details were not immediately updated. And who knows how many games still don’t disclose AI use?
Totally Human notes that many titles are wording their disclosures carefully in order to comply while trying to insist that the game still involved human curation and refinement, and that the game still has “artistic integrity”. I’m not sure such clarifications will do much to sway those opposed to the use of AI in video games in any form.
Reaction to the report among gamers has been mixed. On Reddit, some people said they were disappointed to see indie developers using AI rather than human artists and questioned why anyone would pay for a game made with AI. Some say they immediately add AI-disclosing games to their ignore list. On the other side, some claim that gamers who boycott all use of AI may soon be left only with retro games consoles.
In the middle are those who recognise the complexity of the different forms and uses of AI. An large language model can be trained on copyright material without a licence, or it can be trained on in-house material. Some players are OK with minor uses of AI as long as it’s not for core assets.
“There are cool use cases for AI in games that people who care about art should also be able to appreciate: motion matching, the PCG stuff Epic is working on. There’s people developing new kinds of games (AI Dungeons) that would not have been possible before,” one person argues.
This isn’t a debate that’s going to go away anytime soon. Personally, I’m happy that Steam added its AI disclosure tag so at least we can make an informed choice. What do you think? Are you happy with AI in game design? Let us know in the comments.
If you’re starting out in game design yourself, see our guide to the best game development software and the best laptops for game development.
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