Epic's Tim Sweeney believes AI notices on Steam are a "political statement

26 Oct 2026 at 9:33 am UTC | Last updated: 26 Oct 2026 at 9:36 am UTC
By Liam Squires-Hand

Valve requires developers to disclose AI-generated content in games and on Steam store pages, something Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney isn't happy about.

Epic Games is using a lot of AI nowadays across Unreal Engine, Fortnite, the new Epic Games Launcher and probably plenty of other projects. Sweeney has been really open about how they've gone completely off the deep end with AI. It's clear that Valve continues to ruffle his feathers.

Sweeney continues to argue on social media about it, replying to a post to note:

"Forcing developers to write a political statement to be used against them by the hate mob they’re helping organize is abhorrent."

The problem with the argument here is double standards from Sweeney. Why? Their own platform for developers, Fab, requires an AI disclosure on it. After it was pointed out, Sweeney noted:

"This is a business to business marketplace. Many Fab customers are operating under contracts that require them to understand the providence of all content in their game (including Steam’s own contract that I’ve complained about) and they cannot buy assets without this info."

On the one hand, I do get what Sweeney is saying. Developers need to know exactly what they're buying, especially when they're operating under contracts that require it.

But that's also the entire point here. Fab gives developers the information they need to make informed decisions, and even allows them to hide AI-generated assets entirely. This is good actually! Developers should be able to avoid AI-generated content if they want to.

So why shouldn't we lowly consumers get that same choice? People buying games might have their own reasons for wanting to avoid AI-generated content, just as developers do when buying assets. Or are we simply not important enough? Just wallets to be emptied?

Sweeney appears to think it's perfectly reasonable for developers to be informed about what they're purchasing, but somehow it's a political statement when Valve gives consumers similar information. That seems like quite the double standard.

Nobody is forcing consumers to avoid games that use AI. Valve is simply giving them the information to make that decision for themselves. What's so wrong with that?

🌐 External Sources: x.com/TimSweeneyEpic (..8483), x.com/TimSweeneyEpic (..8392), fab.com Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com. Tags: AI, Editorial, Epic Games, Game Dev, Misc 22 Likes Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:OCTOPATH TRAVELER and OCTOPATH TRAVELER II are coming to GOG in the Preservation ProgramSteam Beta for October 15 brings a 64bit Linux client, Achievement Sets and moreBazzite Linux has a fresh stable update for OctoberHere's the Top Steam Releases of September, 2026 along with compatibility ratings All posts need to follow our rules. Please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Readers can also email us for any issues or concerns.