A Reddit post by the user “Shasaur” in a “r/gamedev” subreddit claimed that Steam banned a game they have been working on for more than three years just because they have experimented with incorporating AI-supported responses into the game. The post tells the story in detail, although only one side of the argument, it depicts a picture of a single individual being stomped over by a giant, an industry monopoly, if you will.
Shasaur states that they have been working on the game for three and a half years and have poured every resource into it. Not only money but apparently, they have surrendered their time and even social life to develop the game. The subreddit goes on to say that Shasaur included an optional mod that enables AI-supported NPCs in the game that are powered with ChatGPT. They say they have taken every precaution that they can, including the mod only being available after the user activates it with their own ChatGPT account. Shasaur also created another version of the game, completely free of the mod, as a safety measure.
The first shock was that Steam told Shasaur they had to reevaluate their game before being released for early access. Shasaur apparently offered full cooperation, telling Steam how it worked, expressing that the mod is not directly built-in to the game and that they have another version utterly free of the AI mod. Then, after waiting for around a month without any explanation, notification of the progress made, or follow-up questions, Shasaur received a generic message of rejection.
Shasaur also expresses their dismay and that they have discovered their game was rejected after the reassessment indirectly by a fan message on Discord, asking why their game has been removed.
Shasaur told the part of the incident saying:
“I’m in absolute shock. I’ve spent years working on this, sacrificing money, time with family and friends, pouring my heart and soul into the game, only to be told through a short email ‘sorry, we’re retiring your app’. In fact, the first way I learned about it was through a fan who messaged me on Discord asking why my game had been retired. The whole time since I put up my Steam page at least a couple of years ago, I’ve been re-directing people directly to Steam to wishlist it. The words from Chris Zukowski ring in my ears: ‘Don’t set up a website; just link straight to your Steam page for easier wishlisting.’ Steam owns like 75% of the desktop market; without them, there’s no way I can successfully release the game. Not to mention that most of my audience is probably in wishlists, which has been my number one link on all my socials this whole time.”
Shasaur ends the subreddit post by telling the community they have tried doing everything they can think of, including starting a new query for the game and contacting the Steam support team. Sahasaur then asked for the community’s help or suggestions for new ideas.
This sounds like a Goliath vs. David story so far. An indie game developer pouring their heart, mind, money, and resources into a game, giving up their social life and the time to spend with their loved ones only to see it coming to fruition. Then, their dreams are crushed just because they want to include a little bit of innovation in their creation. They are left with the broken shards of their dreams, with no one around to listen to or help them.
There is always more than one side of a story. But considering that Valve is more silent than the silent protagonists in their games, and they haven’t provided a detailed explanation even to the subject of the incident, or even why they haven’t released Half-Life 3 yet, it is a thing to see if the gaming community will get an answer from the company. On top of all that, this is not the first time an indie game was banned from Steam because it included AI-created assets.
A couple of months ago, another subreddit claimed that their game was banned from Steam because it included a couple of assets or sprites. Back then, Eurogamer got a statement from Valve on the subject, in which Valve emphasized the copyright aspect of the AI-created assets and was trying to be cautious about that. Valve also stated that AI’s use in video game development is still a new and evolving topic, so they are learning and adapting like the rest of the industry. Valve also didn’t neglect to note that they are not against the use of AI in games in the statement.
AI has and will continue to create more controversy while humanity and industries struggle to assimilate it into their existence. It’s still interesting to witness Steam, or its parent company, Valve, taking a harsh stance against AI and refusing everything involved with it with prejudice. Major companies like Nvidia have multiple projects revolving around AI technology, and AI-supported mods have been released for GTA5 or Skyrim. So far, we know only one side of the story. Therefore, taking it with a grain of salt would be wise. But still, the saddest part of this story seems to be that the only thing that Shasaur gets after their game being banned is a generic answer with no details on how to rectify the situation. Considering that Steam has a 75% market share in the PC game industry, Shasaur doesn’t have many other places to go or options to resort.
