Steam Next Fest, Valve’s festival for indie game demos, has drawn complaints from users frustrated by an influx of AI-generated content. According to the source, the event features numerous games with artwork that appears to be AI-generated, and some games are either promoted using AI images or created entirely with AI tools.
In a post on the Steam subreddit, user ScalesGhost requested the ability to filter out games containing AI-generated content. “I’ve been looking over the Next Fest, and I really enjoy the Discovery Queue feature, I just wish I could personalize it a bit more,” ScalesGhost wrote, adding they would also like to exclude certain game tags like Incremental Games. The user noted that Steam already requires developers to disclose AI-generated content, making such a filter feasible.
Other community members have expressed similar frustrations. User EmmaBooney said, “Yeah, noticed that myself. Usually I scroll through and look for interesting games… it’s all AI slop and I dont want to participate.” Another user, aesoprowwy, suggested that the abundance of low-effort submissions could harm engagement metrics and called for stricter Steam submission guidelines.
Implementing an AI filter would not be technically difficult, according to the source, as Steam already maintains a robust tagging system. However, Valve would need to add ‘AI’ as an official tag. The platform did reduce user-defined tags in May, which could complicate such efforts.
Low-effort game submissions have historically been common at Next Fest, but users perceive this event as notably worse. Valve has traditionally taken a hands-off approach to curation, relying on algorithms to promote popular games and bury low-effort submissions. Most games typically rise or fall in visibility naturally over the event’s duration.
The complaints reflect broader trends in game development. Epic Games delayed its Star Wars shooter to pursue an “AI-first” direction, and Capcom has integrated AI into its REX program to improve the RE Engine used in recent titles.
Key facts
- Steam Next Fest attendees are requesting an AI content filter to avoid low-effort AI-generated games
- Steam already requires developers to disclose AI-generated content in their games
- Valve cut down user-defined tags in May, which could affect implementation of new filters
- The source notes that low-effort submissions at Next Fest are not new, but this event appears worse than previous years