When it seems like the entire world, or at least everyone in the gaming community, is united in defiance against the proliferation of AI in games, it's jarring to see game companies increasingly embrace the tech as a way to streamline efficiency and, in a lot of cases, displace human jobs. A recent survey could shed some light on that dichotomy.
In a recent survey of 3,800 Steam players conducted by The GameDiscoverCo newsletter, an alarming number of respondents expressed that they were mostly fine with AI being used in video games. The results found that, of surveyed respondents, a whopping 23.4% "have absolutely no problem with it," which I find shocking, while 19.6% said they were simply "fine with it."
The greatest share of responders said they're "neutral" on AI in games at 25.6%, while 23.3% said they're "not super keen on it," and a tiny 8.1% said they wouldn't consider playing a game with AI in it under any circumstance.
Thankfully, Valve mandates that all developers on Steam disclaim whether AI was used on their games and to what degree, so players across the spectrum of acceptance of AI have the tools to be informed before making a purchase. And that's where developers and publishers looking to push AI should heed warning, as a separate survey proves that while tolerance for AI in games is still surprisingly high, people are paying attention.
That other survey found that 44.4% of respondents, "check in detail" to see whether a Steam game was made using the help of AI, while 44.7% said they'll "glance at it but not pay much attention. 10.9% said they "won't try to read it" at all. That means nearly 90% of polled Steam users will typically check a game's AI disclaimer before buying the game, which suggests to me that most PC gamers aren't ready to just roll over and let gen-AI slop slip its way into games without check.
It's worth noting that the surveys' respondents aren't reflective of the overall Steam player base, and are, in The GameDiscoverCo's words, "more committed than normal." Still, the results are useful in gauging how a particular brand of Steam user feels about AI in game development at the current moment, a topic which will continue to evolve alongside AI and the overall industry's approach to the tech.
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