Nexon and Other Major Studios: "AI Adoption is Inevitable" Agreement vs Gamers: "Essential for Right to Know and Quality Assurance"
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney strongly opposed mandatory "AI usage disclosure" policies on game distribution platforms, arguing that as AI becomes a ubiquitous development tool like Photoshop, separate labeling is anachronistic. Sweeney stated on social media X: "Putting 'Made with AI' labels in game stores makes no sense" — valid for art exhibitions and digital license markets requiring copyright verification, but not in future game stores where almost all development will involve AI. His analogy: requiring AI disclosure is like "forcing developers to disclose which brand of shampoo they use." This directly targets Steam''s policy: Valve has required disclosure of AI use (classified as "Pre-Generated" or "Live-Generated") since January 2024; Itch.io mandated generative AI disclosure from November 2024. Steam data: approximately 7% of registered games explicitly declare generative AI use (as of July 2025), up 6x from 1.1% the previous year. Industry positions: large studios (Nexon, EA, Ubisoft) increasingly align with Sweeney''s position as AI becomes integral to production pipelines; independent creators and artists strongly support disclosure requirements as protection against AI-generated work displacing commissioned human art. The fundamental tension: AI as "invisible infrastructure" (Sweeney) vs AI as "information consumers deserve when making purchasing decisions" (disclosure advocates) — with no clear resolution as AI becomes simultaneously more prevalent and more consequential to creative labor markets.
