Steam gets big ups for promoting the human artists behind its latest spring sale graphics: 'Thank you for using real artists and not slop'

It's easy to take for granted the cute little drawings and animations that introduce each themed Steam sale. In an age where it's hard enough getting consistent AI use disclosure on our digital storefronts, it's nice to see something clearly handcrafted—even if it beckons me to blow my whole paycheck. If you've been following Steam on X, you even know who to thank.

"The lovely art for this sale was created by @thetiffopotamus, with animations by @thanhuki," wrote Steam on X. "Check out their work with Points Shop items, and by going through your Discovery Queue for stickers."

While it seems like one of those artists, Tiffany Diep, joined the migration to Bluesky where she is more active, it's nice to see the venerable storefront shout out the artists bringing this year's seasonal sale graphics to life. Diep's LinkedIn page reveals that she's "in charge of all of Steam's 2026 seasonal sales banners and point shop sale assets," so if you like that adorable dragon on this year's banner, you may want to save up some Points Shop currency.

The reaction on social media both to the art and to Steam's crediting the artists has been enthusiastic. A post from arthurianmaiden on X reads, "Thank you for using real artists and not slop." A quote repost from IsThisRealArt_ concurs: "Steam supporting real artists! Based!"

It's an easy win for Valve, especially given the kerfuffle GOG found itself in when an AI-generated sale banner went up on the site and it expressed broad interest in the technology earlier this year. With recent experiments like DLSS 5 proving to be a lightning rod for AI skepticism and fatigue, it's no surprise people are treating that cute little dragon like a breath of fresh air.

New Blood CEO Dave Oshry posted on X about the reaction to Steam's use of real artists, saying "I love how this is breaking news now even though Steam has always used different artists for their sale art. That's how much AI bullshit is out there."