Anthropic restricts AI-powered game clones

Addy Osmani, a technical employee at Anthropic, stated that Claude is now prevented through specific instructions from creating game replicas. “We’ve added two sentences to Claude Code’s Opus 5.5 prompt to dissuade Claude from recreating a specific game from someone else, because using Claude to infringe on intellectual property violates our usage policies,” Osmani said.

Developers should still be able to use Claude to develop their own, original games. However, creating copies, even under changed names or as “original” works, is prohibited. The new regulation specifically states: “Develop original games, games in a genre, and games based on the user’s own designs and assets. Do not recreate a specific, existing game, even if it is renamed or referred to as original.”

Anthropic is currently working to find a balance that enables original developments while simultaneously preventing the creation of copies. The company requests feedback in cases of possible false alarms.

The increasing prevalence of AI clones has significantly impacted the gaming industry, both in the realm of AAA titles and indie games. Anthropic’s Opus 5.5 model has proven particularly effective at decompiling games, enabling private developers to create browser versions of classics using Vibecoding. Examples include Halo: Combat Evolved, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Grand Theft Auto V.

In the indie sector, this development is causing developers to increasingly hesitate to release demos of their projects, fearing that Vibecoders will use them as a basis for their own, inferior versions.

In addition to pure AI copies, the Vibecoding wave is also leading to an acceleration of the development of native PC ports for console titles. At the same time, so-called “Slop” titles are flooding the market, as can be seen, for example, in Steam Next Fest, where the number of demos submitted increased from around 1,000 in June 2022 to almost 7,000 in October of the same year. This development makes it difficult for developers to gain attention and protect their creative ideas.