Despite causing more controversies than you could ever fit in the fridge, increasingly popular generative AI technology has had a good year. On Steam, games that use it have managed to gross an enormous, estimated $660 million.
10,258 games on Steam – about 8% of its library – disclose generative AI use according to a report from Ichiro Lambe at Totally Human Media (spotted by Game Developer). That number is up from 7,818 titles, or 7%, only five months ago, and studios using generative AI, both unfortunately and understandably, show no sign of stopping.
The technology has caused panic around games like the upcoming Divinity, and it's even gotten awards show darling Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in trouble at the Indie Game Awards, which retracted the J'RPG's Game of the Year win after developer Sandfall Interactive confirmed it used some generative AI while making the game. But.
It's still the case, according to Lambe, that 12 games on Steam with AI disclosures have earned a staggering eight figures in revenue, while 33 games hit at least $1 million, and 170 amassed six-figures. Popular mainstream titles like Stellaris, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and inZOI are among those high earners – it's not just "slop" games that use generative AI, though that thought is more comforting.
So I'm not surprised that developers like Ubisoft and self-identified "AI first" Krafton are completely committed to AI when there don't seem to be major financial consequences for doing so. I'm disappointed. But I'm not surprised.
