Former Valve employee Chet Faliszek, who worked on Half-Life, Portal, and Left 4 Dead, responded to another round of criticism directed at Steam by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. The developer took issue with Sweeney’s complaints about AI disclosure rules and accused the businessman of treating players with condescension.
Lately, Sweeney has repeatedly criticized Steam. In particular, he claimed that Valve is holding back PC gaming and described the requirement to disclose the use of generative AI in games as unacceptable. According to the head of Epic Games, such labels become a kind of badge that disgruntled users can weaponize against developers.
Gamers are just making an informed choice. Why do you treat them like children? You just think gamers are dumb.
Faliszek also drew attention to a contradiction in Sweeney’s stance. Epic Games’ own marketplace, Fab, also requires disclosing the use of AI. Furthermore, the head of Epic previously stated that the company would continue applying such labels on Fab regardless of Valve’s decisions, as it is necessary for business.
According to Faliszek, one cannot consider such information useful for buyers of digital assets while simultaneously opposing its provision to players. He emphasized that Valve strives to build tools that meet the needs of developers and users, rather than deciding for all industry participants what features they should have.
However, the loudest part of the former Valve employee’s response concerned a specific game. Faliszek challenged Sweeney to prove his commitment to consumer advocacy and release Alan Wake 2 on Steam.
If you’re such a champion for consumer interests, release Alan Wake 2 on Steam. Will you do that? Because that is also a walled garden, restricting choice for both players and developers.