Valve responds to AI game cloning
The gist
Valve's Steam team told Busan developers it won't ban AI cloning, urging them to make games less copyable.
Studios facing clone extortion emails get no new policy, only advice.
How it unfolded
- Oct 27, 2026At Steam Indie Connect in Busan, South Korea, an indie developer said studios receive extortion emails reading 'If you don't pay, we'll clone your game with AI and release it first,' and asked whether Steam had protective measures.
- Oct 27, 2026Steam Business Team member Tom Giardino said the extortion cases were the first he had heard of, called them a matter for law enforcement, and said Valve wants reported cases looked into.
- Oct 27, 2026Giardino ruled out banning developers who clone, saying Valve doesn't want to be 'gatekeepers' over which tools developers use, and urged studios to keep adding features, personality and creativity so games are harder to copy.