Valve Tells Indie Developers to Build Community as AI Clone Threats Grow

Valve has told indie developers worried about AI-made copies of their games to focus on building a community and updating their games consistently.

The advice came at Steam Indie Connect, a developer event held on October 27, 2026. The event was co-hosted by Valve, the Busan Indie Connect Festival Organizing Committee and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). Tom Giardino and Marc Wilkinson, both from Valve's Steam Business Team, spoke on stage. Matt, from Valve's localisation team, joined the question-and-answer session.

The concern is not abstract, according to one developer at the event. That developer said indie developers have received emails with a blunt message: "If you don't pay, we'll clone your game with AI and release it first." Giardino said it was the first time he had heard of extortion cases involving threats to clone games with AI.

Valve's response was careful about the tools themselves. Giardino said, "We don't want to be gatekeepers telling developers which tools they should or shouldn't use." Valve said that making the genuine version the best version has long been its core principle.

The timing matters. GamesRadar reported on October 28, 2026 that Valve has acknowledged an AI problem on Steam. The report links that problem to Steam Next Fest, a Steam event where players can try free demos of upcoming games. The October 2026 edition ran from October 19 to 26, and the report says it exposed thousands of low-quality games.

Presentation materials at the event also gave some of Steam's scale. Steam launched on September 12, 2003. It recently reached a peak of 43.5 million concurrent users worldwide, meaning the number of people online at the same moment.

South Korea got its own slide. Total Steam revenue there grew 126% over five years. Premium game and downloadable content (DLC, paid add-ons) revenue rose 70%. In-game purchase revenue, the money players spend inside games, surged 388% over the same period.

Valve also announced changes aimed at developers and players. A new Wishlist Data API lets developers pull wishlist figures, which count players who have asked to be notified about a game, by period, country and language. A developer enters the game's App ID, its Steam identification number, along with a date range.

Steam's Personal Calendar has moved out of Steam Labs, Valve's testing area, and is now an official store feature. It suggests upcoming releases that players with similar play styles have wishlisted. Games need a set official release date to appear on it.

For players, the calendar is a way to keep track of launches. For developers, the data tools offer a clearer view of who is interested and where. Valve's message at the event was that the best defence against a copy is a game with a community around it, and that Valve will not decide which tools developers use to make one.