A surge of AI-made games strains Steam Next Fest discovery for independent creators
Cheap automated production is colliding with a marketplace that still relies on disclosure, tags and popularity to separate signal from slop.
IGN reports that users browsing Valve’s Steam Next Fest are finding more games promoted with AI-generated art or built through AI-assisted workflows, prompting calls for a filter. Steam already requires AI disclosures, but quoted users said low-effort submissions made browsing less useful and some planned to disengage until stronger demos rose through the ranking system. The episode shows how agent-assisted production can flood a games marketplace faster than its curation tools adapt, making attention scarcer for creators who invest in original work.