Is Tokenization Over? | Epic vs. Steam and What it Says about AI Economics

Live today: Tim Sweeney and Epic vs Steam on AI disclosure, plus a follow-up on why I rarely talk about tokenism and race swaps anymore.

First up is Steam vs Epic. Tim Sweeney thinks AI labels on game stores make no sense. Steam updated its AI disclosure rules this year: tools used only for efficiency are exempt, but content players actually see or hear has to be disclosed, and players can now report it from the overlay. Meanwhile, more games have already come out on Steam in 2026 than in all of 2025. When the flood is this big, does an AI label actually help the customer, or is it just noise? We’ll get into who has the better argument and what it means for developers and gamers.

Then we’re talking about tokenization. I just put out a video explaining why I hardly make this content anymore. Part of it is where I am in life: I run a business now, and griping about other companies isn’t professional. Part of it is natural progression. I laid out my position years ago in Tokenism & Tokenization Explained, and it hasn’t changed. People want original characters. But arguing with people who are set on misunderstanding you, or who think opposing a race swap means you hate black or female characters, is a waste of time. We’ll go deeper on that here and take your questions.

The Rippaverse is proof that people will support completely original characters. If you want original stuff, we have characters from all walks of life.

Watch the tokenism video: [paste link once it’s public]
Tokenism & Tokenization Explained (2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S7w4wCFDWs

The Rippaverse: https://rippaverse.com/