Are AI-Generated Game Assets Allowed on Steam and itch.io?

The short answer: yes on both platforms, as of 2026, with disclosure required on both. Steam requires you to disclose AI usage during submission. itch.io added a generative AI disclosure field in November 2024, mandatory for asset packs and strongly encouraged for games. Neither platform is hostile to AI-generated art if you handle the process responsibly. That said, platform policies change, so you should verify current rules directly on each platform before you publish.

This post covers what the policies actually say, how disclosure works in practice, what "best practices" means beyond the minimum required, and where AgentBrush fits into the workflow.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Platform policies change. Always check the current official Steamworks developer documentation and itch.io policy pages before you ship.

Steam's AI content policy

The most significant shift in this space came in January 2024, when Valve updated its position on AI-generated content. The short version: Steam now allows games that use AI-generated assets, provided developers disclose that usage during submission.

The mechanism is Valve's content survey, which you fill out as part of the Steamworks submission process. The survey asks whether your game contains AI-generated content and, if so, whether that content was pre-generated or can be generated live during gameplay. Answer honestly. The disclosure is straightforward and is not a red flag that will get your game rejected.

Valve updated the AI disclosure form again in January 2026 to clarify its scope. The current language focuses explicitly on content that "ships with your game, and is consumed by players." AI-powered developer tools used for workflow efficiency (code assistants, debugging software, and similar backend tools) are explicitly out of scope. What matters is the AI-generated content that players actually see and interact with, including in-game assets and marketing materials.

There are two cases Valve distinguishes, and understanding both matters if you are deciding how to use generated assets.

Pre-generated assets are images you produced before shipping, checked, and baked into your game files. You generated a sprite sheet with an AI tool, reviewed the output, and added it to your project. This is the most common use case for indie developers, and it is broadly accepted with disclosure. The fact that a tool assisted in creating the art is not disqualifying, any more than using Photoshop filters or 3D rendering software would be.

Live-generated content is different. If your game calls an AI image model at runtime to produce content on the fly for each player, Valve requires that you have guardrails in place to prevent the system from generating illegal content. This is a meaningful technical and policy requirement. Valve has also added a reporting button within the Steam overlay specifically for flagging illegal content generated by live-generation AI. If you are building that kind of system, read Valve's current developer documentation carefully before shipping.

For most indie developers generating sprites, tilesets, icons, and UI assets before release, the workflow is: generate your assets, review them, include them in your build, and check the disclosure box in the content survey. That is the process.

One important caveat: Valve reserves the right to review submissions and make judgment calls. The policy as written is permissive, but it does not mean anything goes. Check the current Steamworks developer documentation for the latest specifics, since policies are updated periodically and the details matter.

itch.io's approach

itch.io added a "Generative AI disclosure" field to every project's edit page in November 2024. It is mandatory for asset creators (asset packs) and strongly encouraged for everyone else, a meaningful shift from the earlier purely optional tagging.

The itch.io disclosure field appears on every project. It is mandatory for asset creators (asset packs) and strongly encouraged for games. If your project contains AI-generated output, indicate which content types were AI-generated (graphics, sound, text and dialogue, or code). Projects with AI-generated content automatically receive the "AI Generated" tag; projects selecting "no" receive the "No AI" tag. Undisclosed AI-generated assets are not eligible for indexing on itch.io's browse pages.

That said, itch.io has no blanket prohibition on AI-generated content. Disclosure is expected (and required for asset packs); rejection is not the default outcome. The platform reflects a practical position: tell players what they are getting, and let them decide.

The significant exception is game jams. Individual jam organizers set their own rules, and a meaningful number of jams explicitly ban or restrict AI-generated assets. If you are entering a jam, read the jam rules before you start generating. Do not assume that itch.io's platform-level permissiveness extends to a specific jam. Jam-level rules are binding within that event, and violating them can result in disqualification.

As with Steam, itch.io's policies can evolve. Verify the current rules at itch.io before publishing.

The disclosure question

Disclosure is operationally straightforward on both platforms. On Steam, it is a checkbox and a short survey response during submission, scoped to content that players actually see. On itch.io, it is a required field on your project edit page, with sub-tags for graphics, sound, text, and code.

Why disclosure matters beyond compliance: a few reasons worth considering.

Transparency builds credibility with players who care about how games are made. The indie community has strong opinions here, and being upfront about your tools tends to land better than having it surface later. "I used AI tools to generate the art for this one-person project" is a more sympathetic position than having players discover it on their own and feel misled.

Disclosure also protects you if policies tighten. If you disclosed from the start, you are already compliant with any future requirement. If you did not, retroactive disclosure on a game with an established playerbase is more awkward.

Neither platform requires a detailed breakdown of which specific assets were AI-generated versus hand-crafted. A reasonable, good-faith disclosure is what both Steam and itch.io are asking for.

Best practices before you ship

Policy compliance is the floor, not the ceiling. These practices will keep you on solid ground regardless of how platform policies evolve.

Own your inputs or have a clear right to use them. If you are using reference images when generating (passing them as inputs to condition the output), make sure you own those references or have the right to use them for this purpose. Training on or conditioning on third-party copyrighted art without permission is a separate risk that no platform policy insulates you from.

Do not generate other people's IP. Prompting for "a sprite in the style of [specific game franchise]" and shipping the result is a different conversation than prompting for an original character. You can be inspired by art styles; directly reproducing distinctive characters, logos, or trade dress from a franchise is where legal risk enters. Keep your prompts original.

Keep records of your generation process. A simple log of the tool, the prompts used, and the date of generation is worth maintaining. If a question ever arises about provenance, having records is better than not having them. This is low overhead for meaningful protection.

Review your outputs before shipping. AI image generation is probabilistic. Review each asset before it goes into your build. Look for unintended content, watermarks, or text artifacts that might create compliance issues. This step is quick, and skipping it is how problems surface post-release.

Watch for policy updates. Both Valve and itch.io can and do update their policies. Subscribe to developer communications from both platforms, and check the relevant policy pages before each major release. The landscape in 2026 is more permissive than it was in 2023, but it is still moving.

Where AgentBrush fits

AgentBrush generates images via gpt-image-2 through an MCP server that runs inside your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, and any other MCP client). The practical output for a game developer is a sprite, tile, icon, or UI asset that lands in your project folder as a PNG, ready to review and use. It is a pre-generation workflow: you create the assets before the game ships, you review them, and you include them in your build.

This maps cleanly to the pre-generated asset category that both Steam and itch.io handle with straightforward disclosure. There is no live generation pipeline, no runtime AI calls in the player's session, and no black-box content arriving after launch. Under Steam's January 2026 clarification, the disclosure scope covers exactly these player-facing assets, which are what AgentBrush produces.

On ownership: OpenAI's terms, as of 2026, grant you ownership of images you generate via the API, subject to their usage policies. That means the sprites and icons you produce through AgentBrush are yours to use commercially, including in a game you sell on Steam or itch.io. Review OpenAI's current API terms for the definitive statement, since terms can be updated.

The generation workflow from inside your agent looks like this: you describe the asset you need, AgentBrush calls gpt-image-2 using the agentbrush_generate tool, the image lands in your project directory. You then review it, incorporate it into your game, and when you submit to Steam, you check the AI content disclosure box. When you publish on itch.io, you fill out the Generative AI disclosure field. That is the full loop.

For practical asset generation workflows, see AI 2D Game Asset Generation: Sprites, Tilesets and Icons and Best AI Game Asset Generators for Indie Devs. For the broader question of commercial rights to AI-generated images, see Can You Sell AI-Generated Images?.

FAQ

Does disclosing AI content on Steam hurt my game's visibility or sales? There is no evidence that disclosure itself affects search ranking or recommendation algorithms. The disclosure goes into Valve's content survey and is surfaced on the store page under "About This Game," but the impact on player behavior varies by genre and audience. Transparency with your audience is a separate decision from the mandatory disclosure in the submission flow, and being upfront tends to read better than having it discovered later.

My game jam bans AI art. Can I use AgentBrush for the prototype and then replace assets before submission? Yes, if you replace all AI-generated assets before you submit. The jam rule applies to what you submit, not your development process. If you prototype with AI assets and replace them with hand-crafted or licensed art in your final entry, you are compliant with a jam that bans AI art. Just make sure you have actually replaced everything.

What counts as an "AI-generated" asset for Steam's disclosure purposes? Valve's current content survey (as updated in January 2026) is focused on content that ships with your game and is consumed by players. Images generated by AI models and included in your build fall squarely in scope. Backend dev tools used for workflow efficiency are explicitly out of scope. When in doubt, disclose: the cost of over-disclosing is zero, and the cost of under-disclosing is potential compliance risk.

Does itch.io require me to disclose AI content to players? Yes for asset packs, and strongly encouraged for games, as of November 2024. itch.io added a "Generative AI disclosure" field: asset creators are required to complete it, and all creators are encouraged to. If your project contains AI-generated content, you tag which types (graphics, sound, text and dialogue, code) and the page automatically receives the "AI Generated" tag. Undisclosed AI-generated assets are not eligible for indexing on itch.io's browse pages. Individual game jams may have additional or stricter requirements.

Platform policies around AI-generated content are still evolving. The positions described here reflect the state as of mid-2026, based on Valve's January 2024 policy update, its January 2026 clarification, and itch.io's November 2024 disclosure requirement. You should check the current Steamworks developer documentation and itch.io's policies directly before you publish. Neither platform's rules are static, and the detail in those documents is authoritative in a way that any summary article cannot be.

Ready to generate your game assets inside your agent? Connect AgentBrush to Claude or Cursor and generate your first sprite in under a minute. Disclosure, when the time comes, takes thirty seconds.