Valve has admitted that Steam has a real problem with low-effort AI games and outright clones, but it isn't planning to police how games get made. Speaking at the Steam Indie Connect event in Busan, South Korea, Valve's Tom Giardino and Marc Wilkinson acknowledged the issue, which has reportedly included at least one developer being threatened with extortion: pay up, or someone will clone your game with AI and release it first.
Giardino was clear that Valve won't be the one deciding which tools are acceptable. He also pointed out that cloning predates AI, it just happened more slowly. His advice for developers was to build a community around their work and keep adding features and personality rather than leaning on one easily copied mechanic.
The Steam Next Fest problem is getting harder to ignore. Wilkinson said the first two days of the event show games to users essentially at random to give everyone a fair shot, with personalized recommendations kicking in afterward. He admitted that means some low-quality games get exposure, adding that Valve is "fully aware of the situation."
Nearly 23,000 games have hit Steam in 2026 so far, and the year isn't even over. Most of that is junk regardless of whether AI was involved, but for a small developer hoping to be the next Balatro, being buried under the flood is a genuine risk.
