Steam Plagued by AI Reviews

A recent report by Copyleaks (summarized by GamesBeat) has identified an increasing number of AI-generated reviews on Steam, the world’s largest digital distribution platform for PC games. With more than 171 million visits recorded in April 2025, according to Similarweb, Steam plays a central role in how games are marketed, discovered, and evaluated.

In this environment, user reviews are not only a source of feedback but a critical part of a game’s visibility and overall success. However, the growing use of generative AI in producing reviews is raising concerns about authenticity and the potential manipulation of consumer perception.

Why Steam Reviews Matter to Developers and Players

Steam reviews carry significant weight in influencing a game’s performance on the platform. Once a game receives ten user reviews, it reaches a key threshold that unlocks a visible summary rating. This rating, which may read as “Mostly Positive,” “Mixed,” or other summary tags, increases the game’s visibility through features like the Discovery Queue.

Early reviews can have a compounding effect, as initial visibility may lead to higher engagement, further reviews, and sustained traffic over time. For consumers, review volume and sentiment are important indicators of quality and credibility. A large number of positive reviews can serve as social proof and help users decide whether to purchase a game.

The presence of a summary label, often displayed before any reviews are read, can influence user perception even before they explore individual comments. These factors make the review system not only a tool for feedback but a core component of game discovery and marketing.

Steam Plagued by AI Reviews

Community Concerns and Lack of Policy on AI Content

Despite existing policies addressing spam, off-topic content, and abuse, Steam’s publicly available Subscriber Agreement, as of May 2025, does not contain any specific provisions addressing AI-generated reviews. This policy gap has drawn criticism from segments of the gaming community.

Users on platforms like Reddit have expressed concerns about reviews that lack personal detail, appear formulaic, or show minimal connection to actual gameplay experiences. These traits are commonly associated with generative AI tools and have led many to question the authenticity of certain reviews. In the past year, Reddit users have flagged numerous posts and comment threads centered around suspected AI-generated reviews on Steam.

These reports often cite repetitive phrasing and generic commentary that fails to reflect the nuance typically found in human-authored content. The concern is not just about individual reviews, but about the potential for coordinated efforts to manipulate game ratings and visibility using AI-generated feedback.

Steam Plagued by AI Reviews

Copyleaks Investigation and Key Findings

Prompted by community discussions, Copyleaks conducted a detailed analysis of review activity on Steam. The research focused on a network of users initially flagged by Reddit for posting suspicious reviews. Through manual examination and the use of Copyleaks’ proprietary AI Logic analysis, the team identified patterns that strongly suggested the involvement of generative AI in creating user reviews.

One account that stood out during the investigation was a user operating under the name +negative. Since 2023, this user has published nearly 360 reviews, many of which exhibit characteristics consistent with AI-generated writing. These include repetitive sentence structures across different games, minimal reference to specific gameplay elements, and the absence of personal anecdotes.

Steam Plagued by AI Reviews

Dark Times and Boom Buddy Example

A notable example came from a December 2024 review of the game Dark Times, which was the subject of a Reddit thread titled, “Most Blatant ChatGPT Review I’ve Seen Yet.” Copyleaks' analysis found that the language used in the review, including phrases such as “facing formidable adversaries,” was statistically far more likely to originate from AI-generated sources than from human writing.

Copyleaks expanded the investigation by examining reviews for other games that had been reviewed by the same account. On titles like Boom Buddy, the company identified multiple reviews that shared structural similarities and linguistic patterns with other suspected AI-generated content.

According to the Copyleaks team, this network of accounts often produced reviews within close time frames and included language that their AI Logic tool classified as highly likely to be generated by artificial intelligence.

Steam Plagued by AI Reviews

Implications for Steam’s Review System

The presence of AI-generated reviews presents a challenge to the reliability and trustworthiness of Steam’s review system. Because reviews directly influence a game’s visibility and user perception, the risk of manipulation through inauthentic content can have significant implications.

Developers who rely on early positive feedback to build momentum may find themselves at a disadvantage if competitors use AI tools to artificially boost their own games. Similarly, players seeking honest, experience-based feedback may be misled by reviews that lack genuine human input. As generative AI tools become more accessible and sophisticated, the boundaries between human and machine-generated content continue to blur.

Without updated policies or detection systems, platforms like Steam may become increasingly vulnerable to such misuse. Copyleaks emphasized the importance of transparency, clear guidelines, and stronger detection capabilities to address this issue. The report suggests that ensuring the authenticity of user feedback will be essential to maintaining trust in digital marketplaces and preserving the value of community-driven review systems.

Steam Plagued by AI Reviews

Conclusion

Steam’s user review system plays a central role in game discovery, consumer decision-making, and developer visibility. The Copyleaks report highlights how the growing use of AI-generated content could undermine this system if left unaddressed.

While community members are already raising concerns and identifying suspicious activity, the absence of clear policy guidance on AI-generated reviews suggests a need for stronger oversight. As the gaming industry continues to evolve alongside advancements in generative AI, platforms like Steam may need to adapt by implementing more rigorous standards to maintain credibility and user trust.