Guides › Can I ship it?
Can I use ChatGPT images commercially in a game?
Short answer: Yes under OpenAI's Terms. The Terms of Use (effective January 1, 2026) say you own the Output and OpenAI assigns you whatever rights it has, with no plan restriction. Three caveats: output may not be unique, the images may not be copyrightable, and you must not infringe others (for example recognisable characters). Disclose AI art on Steam. These Terms cover people outside the EEA, Switzerland and the UK; those users have separate terms we haven't checked.
Checked 2026-10-16 against the official pages quoted below. Quotes are verbatim; anything we couldn't confirm is labelled. Not legal advice.
What the official terms say
"As between you and OpenAI, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, you (a) retain your ownership rights in Input and (b) own the Output. We hereby assign to you all our right, title, and interest, if any, in and to Output."
"Due to the nature of our Services and artificial intelligence generally, output may not be unique and other users may receive similar output from our Services."
"If you reside in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, or the UK, your use of the Services is governed by these terms"
"We will also include much of your disclosure on the Steam store page for your game, so customers can also understand how the game uses AI."
Get an alert when these rules change
Store AI policies and tool licences change without notice. We re-check the official pages every week and send one short email when something that affects shipping changes. Free, unsubscribe any time.
Form not loading? Subscribe on beehiiv.
What it means for your game
- Ownership: you own the output as between you and OpenAI, on free and paid ChatGPT.
- Not unique: others may get similar images, and the assignment doesn't cover their output.
- Copyright: a raw AI image may not be protected in the US.
- Steam: declare it in the Content Survey.
- EEA, Switzerland and UK users: separate OpenAI terms apply (not reviewed here).
Tool licences at a glance
Commercial use in a shipped game, from each vendor's own terms and pricing pages (dataset checked 2026-10-16).
| Tool | Free plan | Paid plans | Licence (paid) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scenario | commercial use allowed | commercial use allowed | Same s.4.3 grant; pricing page: 'You own your generated assets. Use them commercially, sell them, modify them' Details |
| Leonardo.Ai | no commercial use | commercial use allowed | Terms 8.3: on paid subscriptions, ownership of Content vests in you Details |
| Recraft | no commercial use | commercial use allowed | Paid plans: full ownership and commercial rights, kept after cancelling Details |
| PixelLab | commercial use allowed | commercial use allowed | Commercial use; 'The user owns the rights to the generations with the exception of using them to train models' Details |
Store rules
| Store | AI disclosure | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Steam (Valve) | Required (pre-generated and live AI) | Disclose AI content that ships and is consumed by players (pre-generated), and describe guardrails for live-generated AI. Efficiency tools used during development are not the focus. |
Copyright where you sell
- United States: purely AI output not protected. Purely AI-generated material is not protected. Human-authored parts, creative selection/arrangement and creative modifications of AI output can be. The Supreme…
FAQ
Who owns images made with ChatGPT?
OpenAI's Terms of Use (Jan 1, 2026) say that, as between you and OpenAI and to the extent the law allows, you own the Output, and OpenAI assigns you its rights in it.
Do I need a paid ChatGPT plan to use images commercially?
The ownership clause in the Terms of Use isn't tied to a plan. Usage limits and features differ by plan.
Is ChatGPT in the Asset Forge Index dataset?
Not as a tracked tool. This page quotes OpenAI's Terms directly.
Sources
- https://openai.com/policies/row-terms-of-use/
- https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/4145017/view/3862463747997849618
Related: Does Steam allow AI-generated art? · Can I copyright a game made with AI? · Can I ship it? checker · AI rules by store · Commercial use by tool
Cite this page
Asset Forge Index, "Can I use ChatGPT images commercially in a game?", https://assetforgeindex.com/guides/can-i-use-chatgpt-images-commercially, checked 2026-10-15. Data is free to reuse with a link. Machine-readable versions are listed in llms.txt.