Online indie game marketplace itch.io has announced new requirements for all developers with games on the platform to submit a generative AI disclosure for their games. In the project edit page, developers will now find a dedicated “Generative AI Disclosure” which asks whether any content included in games contains content produced by generative AI tools, including LLMs, ChatGPT, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and otherwise – even if developers have “hand-edited it.”
If “Yes” is selected in the disclosure, developers will be asked to specify what elements have been generated with AI – Graphics, Sounds, Text & Dialogue, or Code. Once selected, an “AI Generated” tag will be applied to the game, with folks able to search specifically for these games, or avoid them entirely. There are also sub-tags for games with AI-generated graphics, sound, text and dialogue, and code.
Games that don’t use generative AI in any capacity will be given the “No AI” tag.
These tags apply retroactively, so developers with projects on itch.io will need to update their game pages to ensure their works are being properly categorised. Projects that include generative AI that aren’t tagged properly after a set grace period will “no longer be eligible for indexing,” and will effectively disappear from itch.io’s search.
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The new generative AI search tools are clearly designed with layered intent. There’s been a big push to avoid GenAI in recent months, with many folks fundamentally disagreeing with its use as a tool for assisted creativity. Others are concerned about the environmental waste of AI, as the technology uses copious amounts of processing power that increases harmful emissions.
There’s also the matter that many AI works pull from copyrighted content, and any clear similarities with existing works could land developers in hot water. Legal ramifications around the use of AI are still being determined, but it’s worth noting that using the technology is essentially stealing at a mass scale.
Whatever your stand, itch.io now has more choices available. Those wishing to avoid games made with generative AI can now omit it from search results, and those keen to see how the technology can push gaming forward will have their own dedicated tags to browse.
Developers can learn more on the latest itch.io blog post.
