Pixel P&L: Nearly One in Five Top Steam Games Now Use AI

Welcome to another Pixel P&L edition. This issue takes 5 minutes to read. If you only have one, here are the 5 most important things:

• Steam's top games are quietly using AI despite disclosure rules with 18% of 2025's biggest releases incorporating generative tech, many without telling players.

• Razer bets $600M on AI hardware, unveiling headphones with cameras and holographic desktop assistants at CES 2026.

• Blizzard's StarCraft shooter expected to debut at BlizzCon 2026, the franchise's first major release since 2017.

• Sony patents an AI system that can literally play games for you when you're struggling.

• Roblox mandates global age verification for chat access, expanding safety measures to prevent cross-age-group communication.

Let's get into it.

Steam's Top Games Quietly Embrace AI, Despite Disclosure Rules

Generative AI has become increasingly prevalent in video game development, with 18% of Steam's top 100 new releases in 2025 incorporating the technology, according to an analysis by TechRaptor.

The findings reveal a significant disclosure gap: fewer than half of these 18 titles informed users about their AI usage on Steam store pages, despite Valve's policy requiring such transparency.

High-profile games including EA Sports FC 26 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 properly disclosed their AI implementation. However, several major releases from studios like Obsidian and Level-5 failed to note their use of AI-generated voice acting, textures, or placeholder assets during development.

The enforcement challenge stems from Valve's policy primarily targeting active AI usage during gameplay, rather than AI-assisted development processes. Some developers, including those behind Jurassic World Evolution 3, removed AI-generated content post-launch but retained no disclosure of its earlier use.

Industry observers note the actual figure may be higher, as AI use in coding and ideation remains largely undetectable without developer confirmation.

Razer Bets $600 Million on AI Hardware Push

Gaming hardware maker Razer plans to invest over $600 million in artificial intelligence over the coming years, marking a significant strategic shift for the Singapore- and US-based company.

At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Razer unveiled AI-focused products including Project Motoko, over-ear headphones equipped with cameras and microphones powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon chip. The device supports AI assistants from OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft.

The company also introduced Project Ava, a desktop device featuring a holographic avatar interface for AI assistants, and a workstation PC designed specifically for AI workloads.

To support the expansion, Razer is hiring approximately 150 AI scientists while developing software tools for developers, including a kit for running large language models locally and QA automation tools for game studios.

The move positions Razer beyond its traditional gaming peripherals market into enterprise and developer-focused AI applications. Pricing for the new products remains undisclosed.

⚡️Quick Bytes

Blizzard's StarCraft Shooter Expected at BlizzCon 2026

Blizzard Entertainment's long-rumored StarCraft third-person shooter will likely debut at BlizzCon 2026 in September, according to Windows Central's Jez Corden. The project, led by former Far Cry director Dan Hay, marks the franchise's first major release since 2017's StarCraft: Remastered. Blizzard previously attempted a StarCraft shooter with the canceled StarCraft: Ghost in 2006. Details remain scarce, though industry sources have confirmed development is progressing.

Sony Patents AI System to Play Games for Struggling Users

Sony Interactive Entertainment filed a patent for an "AI Generated Ghost Player" that can guide players through difficult sections or completely take over controls. The system, published by WIPO in April 2025, offers two modes: a "Guide Mode" showing on-screen directions, and a "Complete Mode" where AI finishes challenging segments automatically. Trained on gameplay footage from Twitch and YouTube, the technology aims to reduce player abandonment during frustrating moments, though critics warn it may diminish the satisfaction of overcoming challenges.

Warner Bros. Discovery Rejects Paramount Skydance Bid Again

Warner Bros. Discovery's board once again unanimously rejected Paramount Skydance's amended hostile takeover offer, citing insufficient value and excessive debt financing risks. Board chair Samuel Di Piazza Jr. said the proposal remains "inferior" to WBD's $82.7 billion merger agreement with Netflix announced last month. The board warned shareholders that Paramount's bid carries "heightened risk of failure" and lacks adequate protections compared to the Netflix deal's "superior value at greater levels of certainty."

Roblox Mandates Age Verification for Global Chat Access

Roblox is requiring age verification globally for users to access chat features, expanding beyond initial rollouts in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Netherlands. The platform assigns verified users to six age groups with restricted communication between tiers. This, for instance, prevents nine-year-olds from chatting with anyone over 13. Over 50% of daily active users in pilot countries have completed verification through partner Persona. The move follows previous safety measures including messaging restrictions for under-13 users introduced in 2024.

⚔️Side Quest

🤣Laugh:

📺 Watch: Newbie Indie Game Dev’s data-driven analysis uses neural networks to map 130,000 Steam screenshots, revealing how visual presentation correlates with success and pricing. The AI successfully clusters genres by aesthetic signatures without metadata, demonstrating that header images alone predict popularity. Essential viewing for developers seeking to understand Steam's visual language, identify saturated markets, and discover opportunities for distinctive art direction.

🎮 Play: ODDCORE delivers chaotic Ultrakill-meets-Risk of Rain 2 energy in procedurally generated backrooms. This LSD-infused roguelike shooter demands aggressive play through timed runs and soul mechanics, rewarding fast parkour and frantic combat with addictive replayability. Oozing style with banging soundtracks and arcade unlockables, it's pure stimulation chaos that hooks immediately. 

📚 Read: Louisa Sheringham breaks down how On-Together achieved 40,000 wishlists through social media outpacing Steam Next Fest results. The thread reveals that authentic phone-filmed TikToks showing the game's transparent sticker mode drove viral growth across TikTok, Twitter, and RedNote, with social posts generating bigger conversion spikes than Steam events. Essential cross-platform marketing insights for indie developers.

💡Did You Know

In 2021, an anonymous collector paid $2 million for a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros., marking an unprecedented sale in video game collecting history. The 1985 game was purchased through collectibles investment platform Rally, which had acquired it for $140,000 in April 2021. The video game collectibles market exploded throughout 2020-2021, with records broken multiple times. A copy of Super Mario Bros. sold for $114,000 in July 2020, followed by Super Mario Bros. 3 at $156,000 in November 2020, another Super Mario Bros. for $660,000 in April 2021, and The Legend of Zelda for $870,000 in July 2021, before this remarkable $2 million transaction.

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