Guide

The content survey and AI disclosure

Before Valve will review your store page or build, you fill in the content survey. It generates your regional age ratings, decides which players see your game, and includes a mandatory generative-AI disclosure. It only takes a few minutes, but some answers lock once you're approved, so get it right the first time.

The three sections

SectionWhat it controls
General contentGenerates age ratings for several regional rating boards, shown on your store page after release. If you already hold official ratings, enter them in your store page's Ratings section as well.
Mature contentHow your game appears to players based on their content preferences, and whether an age gate appears. Violence and sexual content are the big ones.
Generative AIWhether AI created any content players see or hear, and how.
Disclose all mature content that's in your build, including content players can't reach: cut levels, debug assets, unused files. Valve checks the build, not just what you can play.

What counts as AI content

Valve isn't asking about AI tools that made you faster. It's asking about AI-made content that ships in your game and that players consume: art, audio, writing, localization.

ExampleDisclose?
AI-generated art inside the game (textures, sprites, UI), including anything shown in screenshotsYes
AI-generated store capsules or key artRecommended. They don't ship in the build, but Valve reviews the store page alongside it
AI-generated achievement icons (including from our icon creator)Yes
AI voice lines, music or sound effectsYes
AI-written dialogue, lore or item textYes
Machine or AI translation that shipsYes
NPCs or content generated by AI while the game runsYes, as live-generated, with guardrails
Code autocomplete or an AI coding assistantNo
AI placeholder art that's fully replaced before shippingNo, as long as none of it ends up in the build

Pre-generated vs live-generated

1
Pre-generated

Made with AI during development and shipped as fixed content. Valve reviews it exactly like hand-made content. You're still bound by the Steam Distribution Agreement: no illegal or infringing material, and the game must match its marketing.

2
Live-generated

Created by an AI model while the game is running. The same rules apply, and you also have to describe the guardrails that stop it from producing illegal content. Valve doesn't allow live-generated adult sexual content at all.

If your game calls a paid AI service at runtime, you have to charge players through Steam-supported payment methods. That can mean building the cost into the base price, selling microtransactions, running a subscription, or selling a DLC that unlocks it.

Writing a good disclosure

Players can see your AI description on your store page, so write it for them: say what was made with AI, what wasn't, and how much human work went into it. Vague answers invite questions from Valve and suspicion from players.

Our achievement icons were generated with an AI image model from
prompts we wrote, then edited and recoloured by our artist. All
in-game art, music, writing and voice acting is human-made.

Changing answers later

After your store page and build are approved, some survey answers can't be edited. If your content changes (for example, you add AI voice lines in an update), contact Steam Support with a short summary of what changed, which answer it affects, and how a tester can reach the content.

Filling in the survey isn't permission to ship anything. Steam's content rules apply regardless of what you disclose. The survey just tells Valve and players what to expect.
Not sure where your game lands? The AI disclosure checker asks a few questions, tells you whether you need to disclose, and writes a draft. Then fill in the survey early; it's a gate in the release process, and both reviews wait on it.