Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has sparked a heated debate on X due to his views on whether digital game stores should include the AI tags on games. His opinion came as a comment on a post earlier made by X user Matt Workman, who wrote, “Steam and all digital marketplaces need to drop the ‘Made with AI’ label. It doesn’t matter any more”.
Replying to the post on Wednesday, November 26, 2025, Sweeney wrote, “Agreed. The AI tag is relevant to art exhibits for authorship disclosure, and to digital content licensing marketplaces where buyers need to understand the rights situation. It makes no sense for game stores, where AI will be involved in nearly all future production”.
Another user with the handle @bee_fumo countered his opinion, saying, “No Tim, the customers deserve to know”. Sweeney defended his opinion, saying, “Why stop at AI use? We could have mandatory disclosures for what shampoo brand the developer uses. Customers deserve to know lol.”
Sweeney believed he put up a strong defense for his opinion about AI tags in the game store. However, his analogy with shampoo didn’t sit well with some people. A user with the handle @mattdalpe, who identifies as a software engineer and game developer working on a game called Dark Room, highlighted why the AI tag was necessary.
“Your analogy makes no sense, the shampoo brand devs use has 0 impact on the quality or content of the game. Man… I love everything you’re doing with Unreal and its pricing model but your pro AI mindset is a major turn off.”
The place of AI tags in video game digital stores
Last year, Steam updated its store, mandating developers to disclose if generative AI was used in the development of their game when submitting it on the platform. If generative AI was used, the developer is expected to explain how it was used. This appears as an AI tag on the game in a section called “AI Generated Content Disclosure”.
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Epic Games Store has no such AI tags. The recent comment from Sweeney suggests that it would likely not be added to the store any time soon.
There were mixed reactions and opinions to Sweeney’s comment on X, with some agreeing that if AI becomes mainstream in a few years, there was no point having AI tags in the first place.
The use of AI in video game development has been a sticking point for many, especially on compassionate grounds. The majority of people against the use of AI tools for video game development blame the tools for the rising wave of layoffs in the industry, and not necessarily because they create games of lower quality.
Do you think the AI tag is necessary for digital video game stores? Does the use of AI for game development bother you, or do you want great, properly optimized games? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
