Tim Sweeney Criticizes Steam’s AI disclosure requirements

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney criticized Steam’s new AI disclosure requirements in a series of public posts on X on Oct. 25, 2026.

Sweeney called Steam’s AI disclosure requirements an “anti-technology smear campaign” and compared them to mandatory political affiliation disclosures for developers, according to TheGamer. He argued that the disclosures are partisan and akin to forcing developers to reveal their voting history to drive cancel campaigns. Valve’s requirements target AI-generated artwork, textures, models, voice lines, music, dialogue, or marketing assets rather than efficiency gains. Sweeney maintains that AI helps indie developers with low funding finish their games, and the disclosures unfairly target them, particularly during events like the recent Steam Next Fest.

Sweeney claimed that Valve is taking a larger fraction of developers’ livelihood by undermining their business with “AI hate campaigns” than its standard 30% revenue cut. He compared the impact of the disclosure requirements to a tax on developers’ revenue and business viability. Sweeney enthusiastically agreed with a commenter on X who suggested that Epic Games has a major opening if Valve fails to address AI issues, simply replying, “Yep!” The commenter wrote, “Big opening for Epic if Valve doesn’t figure this out,”

On Oct. 12, 2026, Sweeney announced on X that Epic Games is pivoting its development style toward an AI-focused future, Shacknews reported. Sweeney clarified that Epic’s primary goal with its AI pivot is to survive the AI revolution and help other developers do the same, rather than accelerating an IPO. He aims to make better code and content faster.

Sweeney has repeatedly defended the use of AI in game development, arguing that AI coding has become better and will usher in a “golden age of gaming,” Polygon.com reported. He argued that AI could have saved the time he spent manually coding Unreal Engine 1 and would have produced similar quality code. Despite widespread controversy and pushback from gamers and developers, Sweeney continues to support AI integration, citing efficiency gains. Developers have reportedly begun to refuse collaborations with Epic Games for Fortnite due to the company’s heavy use of artificial intelligence.

Epic Games has implemented AI in Fortnite to enable NPCs to engage in fully-fledged conversations with players. Reports indicate that Epic Games developers have been instructed that there is “no more hand-written code” and they must use AI tools instead. Epic Games’ new launcher, currently in preview, was created using “vibecoding” based on prompts given to AI rather than manual code writing. The launcher has been criticized by fans for lacking effort and basic features, failing to compete effectively with Steam.

On Sept. 3, 2026, Sweeney told Edge magazine that the hardware crunch caused by AI data centers is causing RAM and storage prices to quadruple. Sweeney suggested that increased domestic manufacturing could help undercut Nvidia and make international tech more autonomous, but admitted it has elements of wishful thinking. He noted that “There’s no Moore’s Law for construction equipment,” highlighting the difficulty of scaling domestic production quickly.

Sweeney also expressed regret over Epic Games’ past support for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), stating that “everyone was ripped off in the process.” Industry leaders, including Sweeney, warned in Edge magazine that the game industry is heading toward a “Crash 2.0” due to spiraling budgets and increasing hardware costs.