Epic CEO Tim Sweeney Has Meltdown Over Steam AI Disclosures

Published Oct 25, 2026, 6:30 AM EDT James Lucas is an Executive Editor at TheGamer who has worked in professional journalism since 2018. A Newcastle University graduate with a degree in Journalism, Media, and Culture, they have written hundreds of guides, news stories, and original reports, with bylines in IGN, NME, GaymingMag, and VG247, sourcing interviews with studio heads, legendary industry figures, prominent actors, and more. An expert on FPS games, Soulslikes, RPGs, and survival horror, James has intimate knowledge of a wide variety of titles, providing in-depth coverage and exclusive profiles. Some of the games they have extensively covered include: Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Elden Ring, and Fallout. They pride themselves on their consistently thorough research, leveraging nearly a decade of industry experience. You can reach them at James.t@thegamer.com For two days straight, Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney has been posting non-stop about Steam AI disclosures — again. He calls it an "anti-technology smear campaign", and claims that it's akin to Valve forcing developers to list their political affiliation, i.e. whether they vote Republican or Democrat. Hour after hour, Sweeney sits on his phone hammering away at how the "hate mob" is "burning down the businesses of good developers." It's all a bit silly. AI disclosures are no different than developers naming what engine they use, or disclosing anti-cheat software, copyright attributions, and third-party software licenses. If you order a pie, you don't want mystery meat, you want to know what exactly you're chowing down on. Sweeney's argument, however, is that AI helps indie developers with low-funding to finish their games, and that these disclosures only serve to bombard them with backlash, as we've seen during the recent Steam Next Fest. Only, that isn't how Steam's disclosures work. Valve doesn't require developers to disclose AI-assisted development in writing or debugging code, or even early concept art. Efficiency gains are "not the focus." The disclosure is intended to reveal AI-generated artwork, textures, models, voice lines, music, dialogue, or marketing assets. Things that people will notice anyway when they buy the game, as evident by Total War: Shogun 2 — Complete Edition, which incurred plenty of backlash without the help of a disclosure. Keep Vibecoding That Launcher, Tim Tim Sweeney is adamant, however, that these AI disclosures are partisan, comparing them to "political essays" that force developers "to list their voting history to drive cancel campaigns and public struggle sessions." He even laments that Valve is "taking a potentially even larger fraction of developers' revenue and livelihood by undermining their business with these AI hate campaigns" than the 30% cut it already takes. Again, Valve doesn't require studios to disclose efficiency gains with AI, which, as Tim says, may help smaller teams on tight, shoe-string budgets, just AI-generated assets. The slop. This whole one-sided feud with Steam over AI disclosures is bizarre, but it really highlights why the Epic Games Store remains so frustrating to use. Sweeney exists entirely in a bubble of AI sycophants and doesn't consider the everyday user. In fact, when one commenter claimed, "Big opening for Epic if Valve doesn't figure this out," Sweeney enthusiastically replied, "Yep!" — despite the overwhelming calls for more AI filters on Steam. I'm not convinced EGS can close the gap by "vibecoding" completely broken updates, despite lacking basic, fundamental features, all while its CEO grovels on X to Elon Musk and constantly finds himself at the center of needless controversy.