"Rather than relying on a single mechanic that someone can easily copy..."

Valve has responded to the worrying trend of games being cloned using generative-AI and sold on Steam, but instead of admonishing those games or promising to do something about them, it appears to have put the onus on developers to make their games less copyable.

Valve's business team members Tom Giardino and Marc Wilkinson were reportedly asked at a Steam Indie Connect developer conference in Korea, reported by InvenGlobal, whether Steam had any protective measures in place to stop games being cloned by AI. The questioner, a developer, cited an example whereby developers were held to ransom by people threatening to clone a game.

It was in response that example that Giardino - after saying this was the first he'd heard of ransoming, and that probably it was an issue for law enforcement, though Valve would "help in whatever way we can" - outlined not what Valve was doing to clamp down on this, but what developers could do to guard against it. Indeed, Giardino began by underlining Valve's hands-off stance towards AI use, reportedly stating: "We don't want to be gatekeepers telling developers which tools they should or shouldn't use."

Instead, developers can guard against copycats by building active communities and establishing trust and by making a legitimate version of a game the best version available, Giardino reportedly said. Then there's the game itself: a more complex game will be harder to copy. "Rather than relying on a single mechanic that someone can easily copy, you need to keep growing your game by adding features, personality, and creativity that stem from your own perspective," Giardino reportedly said.

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