Valve's recent Steam Next Fest was plagued by games using AI, with former developers like Chet Faliszek saying the storefront is "overwhelmed by slop" – a problem that persists after the event, as countless clones and vibe-coded titles pop up.
The company is well aware of the issue, however, having recently said it knows there are "low-quality games" running rampant – but it doesn't want to dictate the "tools" that devs "should or shouldn't use." So, what is its next move?
Well, it all starts with tightening the guidelines folks have to follow to get games on the platform, and that's precisely what Valve is now doing. A new update to the pre-release review process on Steam proves as much.
"We've seen a significant increase in submissions for store page and build review in recent months, and have spent the last several weeks working to scale our process to match it," it reads. "Though we still have a ways to go, we want to share the initial improvements that have shipped in the past weeks. The changes are designed to help more developers pass build review the first time, and cut down on re-reviews for basic functional issues."
Interestingly, they note the "significant increase in submissions" here – but they don't mention any AI. Instead, they crack down on the requirements for said submissions.
First, devs will need to run their proposed game through Steam for at least five minutes. Then, they must confirm any common redistributables (think DirectX and the like). They'll also have to ensure their achievements are prepared and Steam Cloud is working if supported.
There are some changes to screenshots devs put forward, and such, too, but perhaps most notably, these tweaks will speed up the time between submissions and Steam's approval – not slow it down. "The changes above are aimed at helping games pass review quickly the first time," as Valve writes.
Does this mean we'll see more or less, erm, questionable entries on Steam, then? Well, I suppose it's hard to tell at this point.
Comments highlight concerns about the whole AI debacle, with one pointing out how wild it is that some devs evidently don't even launch their games before attempting to get them onto Steam: "Are the vibe coders not even running their games before submitting them?"
Another calls for more changes, reading, "You REALLY need to do something with all the soulless AI slop 'games' agents are pushing." Plenty of others agree.
Valve does make clear that it's not done with its adjustments to the submission process, so I'd wager there'll be more to come soon – how any upcoming further changes will look, though, I'm not certain.
Fingers crossed we see fewer vibe-coded copies and "AI slop" regardless.
