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Steam and Epic Games Store AI Disclosure: What Developers Must Report

By Freedom251 Team · · 12 min read

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Steam requires developers to answer a dedicated generative-AI section in its pre-release Content Survey. The form separates AI-created material that ships with the game from content generated while the game is running, and asks for safeguards when live output could be illegal. Steam does not treat every AI-assisted development task as reportable: workflow efficiency alone is outside the section’s focus.

Epic Games Store’s published public requirements reviewed for this comparison cover content, intellectual-property rights, accuracy and distribution obligations, but do not describe a matching AI-specific questionnaire. That does not prove the authenticated Developer Portal never asks an AI question. Developers should treat Steam’s survey as an explicit requirement and verify the current Epic submission screens before relying on the public documentation.

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At a glance

Name Best for Key spec Checked
Steam Teams submitting a PC game through Steamworks Required Content Survey with separate Pre-Generated and Live-Generated AI sections; live output requires a guardrails description Oct 2026
Epic Games Store Teams following Epic’s published public distribution requirements No comparable AI-specific questionnaire described in the reviewed public requirements; general rights, content and listing-accuracy rules still apply Oct 2026

What is the difference between Steam and Epic’s AI disclosure rules?

Steam publishes an explicit AI disclosure process; Epic’s publicly available distribution guidance does not set out an equivalent survey. The practical distinction is not that one store automatically accepts AI-made games and the other bans them. It is that Steam tells developers exactly where generative-AI use is addressed before review, while Epic’s public documents leave the exact portal fields unestablished.

Steam’s Content Survey is completed before the store page and build are submitted for review. Valve says the answers are checked against the submitted game and store page, so the disclosure needs to describe what players can actually encounter and what appears in the listing.

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Epic’s published material instead emphasizes ordinary distribution obligations: the product description must be accurate, the content must comply with the store’s rules, and material used or published must not infringe another party’s rights. Epic’s statement that content cannot violate someone else’s intellectual-property rights applies whether or not AI was involved.

The comparison below is limited to public guidance available through October 30, 2026. The exact questions shown after signing in to Epic’s Developer Portal are not established here; check that live interface for the build and territory you are submitting.

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How does Steam classify AI use?

Steam uses two categories for generative content that reaches players: Pre-Generated and Live-Generated. It separately says that AI tools used only to make a team’s workflow more efficient are not the focus of this section.

What is Pre-Generated AI content on Steam?

Pre-Generated content is produced during development and then shipped for players to consume. Steam’s examples include art, sound, narrative and localization. A generated texture packed into the game, an AI-produced voice line included in a cutscene, or machine-generated translations distributed with the release belongs in this category when the material is part of the player-facing product.

The relevant question is what the game contains at release, not which software button produced it. Keep an inventory of generated assets, the portions that remain in the final build, and where each appears in the store description, screenshots, trailers or other associated marketing material.

What is Live-Generated AI content on Steam?

Live-Generated content is produced while the game runs, in response to play or to a request made during a session. Examples include a model composing dialogue for a non-player character, generating an image on demand, or creating text from a player prompt.

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Steam requires an additional description of the guardrails used to prevent illegal output for this category. Describe the controls that are actually implemented, such as prompt filtering, blocked categories, moderation, human review where applicable, logging, rate limits or a way to report and remove unsafe results. A disclosure is not permission to ship unlawful, infringing or otherwise prohibited material.

Do AI coding assistants count as Steam disclosure?

Not automatically. Steam states, “Efficiency gains through the use of these tools is not the focus of this section.” If an assistant helps write code, refactor a build script, generate test cases or organize internal documentation, that efficiency use is different from shipping AI-generated player content.

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The distinction changes if the tool’s output becomes a player-facing asset or feature. Code completion used to implement a runtime text generator is workflow assistance, while the dialogue produced by that generator is Live-Generated content. Likewise, an assistant used to draft a texture that is then included in the release produces Pre-Generated content even though the developer did additional editing.

When does Steam review the answers?

Steam reviews the Content Survey responses alongside the submitted store page and build. Make the wording consistent with screenshots, trailers, feature descriptions and the behavior a reviewer can observe. Avoid saying that content is handcrafted if a material part was generated, and do not describe a feature as live generation when the output is fixed in the shipped files.

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After the build and store page are approved, Steam says that changing certain Content Survey answers requires contacting Steam Support. Treat the original answers as a release document: update your internal record when the game changes, and contact support when a later update alters a covered feature.

What do Epic Games Store’s public rules establish?

Epic’s reviewed public distribution requirements do not describe a Steam-style AI-specific questionnaire or publish matching definitions for Pre-Generated and Live-Generated content. They do establish general obligations that still apply to AI-assisted products.

  • Rights: Content you create, publish or use cannot infringe or violate another person’s or company’s rights, including intellectual-property rights.
  • Accuracy: The product page and other listing information must accurately represent the game and its features.
  • Content compliance: The game and associated materials must meet Epic’s published content and distribution requirements.

Epic also has a declaration related to paid promotional content or brand promotion. That is an advertising disclosure, not a statement about whether an asset was produced by a generative model. Do not use that declaration as a substitute for describing AI provenance if the live portal asks for it.

The careful conclusion is “no comparable AI-specific questionnaire is described in the reviewed public requirements,” not “Epic never asks about AI.” Epic can add or change authenticated submission fields without changing the public page immediately. Open the current Developer Portal form, record any AI-related question and follow the wording shown for the specific product submission.

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What should I do in common AI-development scenarios?

The same project can contain several kinds of AI use. Classify each one by what reaches players, then apply the store-specific requirement rather than treating the entire game as simply “AI-made.”

Scenario 1: An AI-generated texture ships in the game

Steam establishes: A texture created during development and included in the release is Pre-Generated player-consumed content. Include it in the applicable Content Survey response and make sure the store page does not imply that every visual was created without generative tools.

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Epic’s public guidance establishes: The texture must satisfy the ordinary content and rights rules. You remain responsible for having sufficient rights to use the source material, model output and any third-party elements incorporated into the asset. The public requirements do not provide a separate AI field to complete.

Verify before submission: Check the texture’s provenance, licenses and editing history; list where it appears in the build; review screenshots and trailers for the same asset; and inspect Epic’s current portal for any question not present in the public guidance.

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Scenario 2: A coding assistant is used only for development

Steam establishes: Merely improving programming efficiency is outside the stated focus of the AI section. If no generated player-facing material or runtime generation feature remains in the product, do not describe routine code assistance as though it were an in-game AI system.

Epic’s public guidance establishes: The general rules still apply to the resulting software. Code provenance, third-party licenses, security and accuracy remain the developer’s responsibility; the absence of a public AI questionnaire is not a waiver of those obligations.

Verify before submission: Separate internal tooling from shipped functionality. Search the final build and content bundles for generated text, images, audio, localization or models. If the assistant’s output powers a player-facing generator, classify that feature separately rather than relying on the workflow-only distinction.

Scenario 3: Dialogue is generated during gameplay

Steam establishes: Runtime dialogue is Live-Generated content. The survey requires a description of guardrails against illegal output, and the feature remains subject to Steam’s ordinary content and rights rules. Explain what can trigger generation, what moderation occurs before display, and how unsafe output is handled.

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Epic’s public guidance establishes: The game must comply with general content, accuracy and rights requirements. The reviewed public documents do not establish a parallel AI-specific guardrail questionnaire, so do not claim that Epic has adopted Steam’s terminology.

Verify before submission: Test the production configuration internally for blocked categories, fallback behavior, moderation failures and service outages. Document the safeguards that are really deployed, then read the current Epic portal instructions in case it requests technical or content information behind login.

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Scenario 4: AI-produced material appears in the store listing

Steam establishes: Valve’s clarification distinguishes workflow tools from generated game or associated marketing content. If generated images, copy, audio or video are used in the store page or other associated promotion, ensure the Content Survey response and the listing are consistent with that use.

Epic’s public guidance establishes: Listing claims must be accurate, and all promotional material must respect third-party rights. A generated screenshot must not depict a feature, visual quality or gameplay state that the shipped game does not provide.

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Verify before submission: Keep the final versions of screenshots, trailers, key art and written copy in the same asset register as in-game content. Check that every claim about AI functionality is observable in the submitted build and that no marketing asset contains unlicensed characters, voices, logos or likenesses.

What edge cases can change the answer?

Does Steam accept every kind of live-generated content?

No. Steam’s FAQ says it does not want to ship live-generated Adult Only Sexual Content during gameplay at this time. The ordinary guardrails-description process should not be presented as blanket approval for every category of runtime output.

Who pays for an external live-AI service?

Steam’s FAQ identifies supported approaches for paying the costs of an external live-AI service. Those payment choices are separate from disclosure: a service arrangement does not remove the need to describe live generation and safeguards when the feature is covered.

What if a feature changes after approval?

Reclassify the feature whenever an update adds generated art, sound, narrative, localization or runtime output, or changes the store listing to promote it. For Steam, contact Steam Support when the change requires an amendment to approved Content Survey answers. For Epic, inspect the current authenticated submission flow and follow its update instructions rather than assuming an old declaration carries forward.

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How should I prepare a compliant submission?

Use this process before uploading a build or requesting review. It keeps the two stores’ different levels of published guidance separate while preserving one reliable record of the game’s AI use.

  1. Inventory player-facing output. List every generated image, model, sound, voice, written passage, translation and other asset that ships, plus every feature that can generate output during play.
  2. Separate workflow assistance. Mark code completion, internal prototypes, build automation and other efficiency tools that do not produce player-consumed content. Do not mix these with shipped assets or runtime systems.
  3. Classify Steam items. Put shipped development-time material under Pre-Generated and runtime output under Live-Generated. Record the locations in the build and any associated marketing material.
  4. Document live safeguards. For each runtime feature, describe filtering, moderation, blocked prompts or categories, reporting, logging, fallback behavior and access controls that are actually implemented.
  5. Audit rights and accuracy. Confirm licenses and permissions for source material and outputs. Compare the final build with screenshots, trailers, descriptions and feature claims on each store.
  6. Complete Steam’s Content Survey. Answer the generative-AI section before review, using the same terminology as the product and explaining guardrails where live generation exists.
  7. Check Epic’s live portal. Read the current Developer Portal fields for this submission. If it contains an AI question, answer it precisely; if it does not, continue to meet the published general requirements and retain your internal disclosure record.
  8. Freeze a release record. Save the submitted answers, asset inventory, moderation description and store-page versions. Update the record for later builds and contact the relevant support channel when a platform requires an approved answer to be changed.
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Can I use the same AI disclosure on Steam and Epic?

You can reuse the underlying facts, but not necessarily the wording or categories. Steam’s form expects its own distinction between Pre-Generated and Live-Generated content, while Epic’s public documents do not establish those labels or a matching questionnaire.

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Prepare a platform-neutral inventory first: what was generated, when it was generated, whether players consume it, whether it is generated at runtime, where it appears, and what safeguards exist. Then translate that inventory into Steam’s Content Survey and any fields shown in Epic’s current portal. This avoids both under-reporting a Steam-covered feature and implying that Epic has adopted a rule it has not publicly described.

What does available player-response research show?

A 2026 exploratory study by Fabian Wiesinger, Johanna Pirker and Denis Helic collected 50,153 Steam reviews across 602 games. The authors associated AI labels with more AI-related criticism in negative reviews, but the dataset is not a count of all Steam reviews or games and does not show that disclosure caused criticism, lower sales or a particular business outcome.

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That finding is context for communication decisions, not a storefront rule. Neither Steam’s survey nor Epic’s public requirements promise that a disclosure improves approval, ratings or revenue.

What mistakes should developers avoid?

  • Calling every AI use reportable: Steam’s wording focuses on generated content players consume, not efficiency gains from ordinary development tools.
  • Calling no AI use reportable: A shipped generated asset and a runtime generator are different from internal assistance and need the appropriate Steam treatment.
  • Confusing marketing disclosure with AI provenance: Epic’s paid promotional-content declaration addresses advertising or brand promotion, not how an asset was generated.
  • Assuming disclosure grants permission: Steam’s survey and Epic’s requirements do not override copyright, licensing, safety or other content rules.
  • Claiming Epic has no AI question: The reviewed public requirements do not describe one, but the authenticated portal’s exact current fields remain something the developer must verify.
  • Leaving the store page inconsistent: Survey answers are checked against Steam’s submitted game and listing, and Epic requires accurate product information.
  • Forgetting updates: Adding runtime generation or new generated assets after approval can change the disclosure and support steps needed for the next release.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does disclosing generative AI guarantee that Steam will approve my game?

No. Disclosure is one part of the review record, not an exemption from content, copyright, safety or marketing-accuracy rules. A game can still require changes if its generated material violates those requirements.

Is Epic guaranteed not to ask about AI in its Developer Portal?

No. The reviewed public distribution requirements do not describe a comparable AI-specific survey, but they do not establish every field visible after login. Check the live portal for the exact product submission and follow any current question it presents.

Can I paste Steam’s AI answer into an Epic submission?

Reuse the factual inventory, but adapt the wording to the fields each platform actually shows. Steam’s Pre-Generated and Live-Generated labels are Steam’s published framework; do not imply that Epic has formally adopted those definitions.

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Do AI labels on Steam prove that disclosure hurts sales?

No. The 2026 study of 50,153 reviews from 602 games found an association between AI labels and AI-related criticism in negative reviews, but it did not establish causation, total-market effects or a sales reduction.

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