According to new data-mined information shared online, Valve is preparing to release – or at least developing – a service known as ‘SteamGPT’. It doesn’t take much to imagine that this could be some kind of ChatGPT-like chatbot coming to the Steam platform. What has been leaked so far is largely centered around support requests and responses.

There’s also a connection being made to Counter-Strike 2 anti-cheat systems, with specific mentions of Trust Score (otherwise known as Trust Factor) and a ‘CSBot’. The topic of generative AI in gaming remains a touchy one, though the use of artificial intelligence for IT and customer support is increasingly common, along with cybersecurity and anti-cheat software.

What do we know about SteamGPT so far?

First of all, it’s worth mentioning that references to SteamGPT were quickly removed after they were leaked yesterday following the release of the latest Steam VR Beta. However, this may simply be a standard procedure, given its unfinished state, especially if ‘SteamGPT’ is a placeholder name used internally by Valve.

There isn’t too much to gather for certain from the leaked code, aside from the speculation derived from its name. There’s also the possibility that the name was more of an in-house joke, and it’s not really an LLM (Large Language Model) at all, hence the sudden removal once people spotted it.

If it’s not an AI chatbot for Steam support, then it seems likely that the so-called ‘SteamGPT’ feature is mostly related to the Counter-Strike 2 side of the equation. It may be used to aid the process of ban requests, especially given the references to Trust Factor, pulling from available metrics to determine the legitimacy of players – hopefully with human review involved.

We already know that Valve utilizes VACnet, an AI-driven anti-cheat system, within CS2, though the company has remained pretty secretive about how it works following its initial reveal way back in March 2018. SteamGPT may be related to VACnet in some way, so it would be interesting to see an official announcement, especially since players are always looking for improvements to the Valve Anti-Cheat. The most recent good news was confirmation of 960,000 bans for bot accounts.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.