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Epic Games CEO says it’s ‘really irresponsible’ of Steam to make studios disclose AI use | VGC - 25th Jun 2026 (www.videogameschronicle.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/gaming@lemmy.ml
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Tim Sweeney claims it’s a “Scarlet Letter” which makes players “try to kill the game”

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has criticised rival Valve for forcing studios to disclose when they use AI in game development.

Epic recently showed how it was integrating AI into Unreal Engine 6.

Time Sweeney said:

“If you want to launch a game, and get it as widely publicized as possible, you’ve got to put it on Steam so people can wish list it, and if you want to play it on Steam, then you have to get this Scarlet Letter of AI attached to your product, and now there is a hater community trying to kill the game.

“I think it’s really irresponsible of Valve. They shouldn’t do it, because it makes it much, much, much harder for a game developer to have a chance of success. You have to choose from either not using tools that can make you way more productive, and probably failing due to competition that does.”

Which is totally ignoring the factor that the user should know about the purchase it makes and be able to decide for themselves. Transparency for the player is not a bad thing.

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[–] 40 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Hmm... Do I side with Epic, famous for:

  1. Apple app store lawsuit because they didn't get enough of the profit
  2. Google play lawsuit, ditto.
  3. Paying publishers to release games exclusively on Epic Games Store, pushing up prices to gamers.
  4. Many allegations by former allegations about toxic work culture, very long working hours, especially "crunch" times leading to burnout and mental health issues.
  5. Aggressive loot boxing and monetization of games specifically targetting children.
  6. Having to settle a lawsuit with the FTC for $275m to escape prosecution for breaching children's privacy laws and forced to issue a further $245m in refunds to customers who were victims of "dark patterns" employed by Epic.

Or with Steam?

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  • [–] 22 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    arent lootboxes a problem with valve too?

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  • [–] 18 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    They effectively created the modern videogame lootbox, yes. However they haven't been caught with their pants down specifically targeting children with them, unlike Epic.

    Still, fuck valve for lootboxes

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago* (2 children)

    Its so hard to get annoyed at them for it though. Prior to valve a few other companies were doing it, but the items effected gameplay - pay to win bullshit.

    Valve created cosmetics or balanced rare items at worst. They even quit charging to actually play the game (TF2 was their first). Meaning, you could play, and be as good as anyone else for no cost to you at all.

    The fact that grew into a real world market, maybe that is where the complaint is? They have banned 960,000 accounts they thought were farming in 2026 and another 40 they knew were openly real world selling.

    Yet I understand your point: people consitantly say stupid ass things like "my account has $250,000 worth of items!" when in reality digital shit shouldnt be "worth" anything. Its digital. It does not exist. But people cant help themselves in "buying" a crate and hoping to get the item that is "worth" something.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Kind of a tangent, but

    when in reality digital shit shouldnt be “worth” anything. Its digital. It does not exist.

    Should a book have no value just because it was written on a computer and published as an ebook? Are CDs, DVDs and blurays worthless as soon as you access their content? Is photography a joke to you?

    Just because digital goods are cheaper and easier to reproduce doesn't mean it's worthless.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago

    In this context they are though. For example a color scheme for an in game asset, that only works when a companies server is running a game, is worthless the minute the game ends.

    I mean I guess you could take a screenshot and try and enjoy that, but you can't take it with you in any other way.

    Also a tangent: this is why DRM makes everything worthless. If you have a book (digital, written on computer) that is scrambled to never let you access it unless you have one specific decoder, it effectively is worthless. Even if you have a digital copy.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Making the game free was part of the model of the loot boxes - people are less likely to get invested in your moneymaker if they have to pay for entry to the casino

    But yes. Despite being in many ways the first iteration of what cosmetic loot boxes are nowadays, they weren't the most predatory about it

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago* (1 child)

    I still find it hard to be annoyed, who is stupid enough to pay for digital goods? Oh wait NFT's were a thing once....

    Should I feel sorry for stupid?

    Kids are stupid, and its not their fault. They are by definition learning how not to be. Those i suppose I care about.

    Like a casino did they try hard to keep them out? Maybe not hard enough. Did their parents? Probably not.

    Everyone else that pays for lootboxes? Meh, adults make their choices.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago

    I don't think its fair to put the blame on stupid people when you have the best minds of the modern age finely tuning advertising and visual effects and psychological trickery to entice people into specific, addictive, behaviours

    The only reason casinos try hard to keep people out is because of laws - there are no where near the same kinds of regulations about lootboxes

    Anyway - we broadly agree with eachother and I think we both made our point :P

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  • [–] 11 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    It's bizarre seeing people side with Google and apple over their absurd walled garden percentages.

    Not liking Epic doesn't mean Google or apple are in the right.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago

    The percentage is the wrong problem and regularing app stores is the exact opposite of what android and iphone really need, which is an unrestricted experience of using alternative app stores.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    I don't think they claimed google or apple were right in those cases. Everyone can be wrong.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago*

    They presented those two suits as being knocks AGAINST Epic, while snarkily misstating the premise of the cases.

    Apple, in particular, was egregious in trying to force charging a percentage for things purchased NOT through their app store. By that same standard, Apple would also take a 30% cut of shit bought off of the Amazon app.

    So, yes, they heavily implied it. I know everyone can be wrong. That was MY point.

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