01What happened

The story, straight

Kotaku's Zack Zwiezen installed a browser extension that flags games using generative AI and found more than half the demos in Valve's current Steam Next Fest carried AI content disclaimers. The tool, which warns players when a game includes AI-generated art, text, or other assets, turned what's usually a fun discovery experience into a depressing survey of AI-infiltrated game development. Zwiezen reported encountering the disclaimers so frequently that he became curious about the overall ratio on the event's algorithmically curated hub page.

Kotaku's Zack Zwiezen ran an AI-blocking browser extension through Steam Next Fest and found more than half the demos flagged as using generative AI. The tool that's supposed to help you avoid AI content basically turned the whole event into a depressing scroll through disclaimers. He kept running into them so often he started counting.

02Spread timeline

Where it actually started

Jun 15, 2026Origin
Zack Zwiezen publishes piece on AI-blocking extension revealing AI content in over half of Steam Next Fest demos.Zwiezen drops the piece on kotaku — AI-blocking tool reveals the extent of AI use in next fest
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Jun 15, 2026
Article shared on Mastodon via gamer-geek-news feed, tagging Steam Deck, PCGaming, and AI topics.story hits mastodon via the igeek gaming feed
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03Source receipts

Every claim, linked

KotakuZack Zwiezen's firsthand account of using an AI-content-blocking browser extension during Steam Next Fest, reporting more than half the demos he checked carried AI disclaimers.
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MastodonGamer-geek-news Mastodon feed sharing the Kotaku article with SteamDeck, PCGaming, and AI tags.
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04What's solid, what isn't

What's solid and what isn't

Confirmed
  • Kotaku's Zack Zwiezen used an AI-content-blocking browser extension during Steam Next Fest.
  • More than half the demos he explored carried AI content disclaimers.
  • Valve requires developers to disclose AI-generated content on Steam.
Disputed
  • The exact percentage of all Steam Next Fest demos with AI disclaimers — Zwiezen's count was based on what he personally explored, not a full audit of the event.

05Why it matters

The editorial take

Steam introduced mandatory AI content disclosure requirements for developers last year, and Steam Next Fest — Valve's recurring demo showcase — is now the clearest visible proof of how pervasive AI tooling has become in indie game development. When more than half the featured demos require disclaimers, it raises questions about what 'indie' means when the barrier to entry is a prompt rather than a pixel.

valve made devs disclose AI use on steam, and next fest just became the most visible proof of how deep this goes. when more than half the demos need a disclaimer, the line between 'indie dev' and 'guy who typed a prompt' is getting blurry fast.