Science & Tech · AI · 9 hrs ago
Anthropic tells Claude not to recreate specific existing games
Anthropic has added a rule to Claude Opus 5.5 against recreating specific games.
The change affects Claude Code, Anthropic’s coding tool, and was confirmed by a member of the company’s technical staff.
Claude is still meant to help users make original games, games in a genre, and games based on their own designs and assets.
The restriction follows complaints from game developers that AI tools have helped people copy games and reverse-engineer their code.
Developers have also cancelled some planned public demos because they feared the code could be copied.
The wider concern is that Steam has seen a rise in low-effort games and imitations, while Valve has said it does not want to ban AI coding tools.
Anthropic says it will continue adjusting the rule and invites users to flag cases where Claude refuses work based on their own material.
Anthropic added a rule to Claude Code telling it not to recreate a specific existing video game, even if the game is renamed or described as original.
The rule still allows Claude to help make original games, games in a genre, and games based on users’ own designs and assets.
Anthropic technical staff member Addy Osmani said the change was intended to prevent Claude from being used to infringe intellectual property.
The change followed reports of games being copied with AI and concerns about AI-assisted reverse engineering and low-effort game clones on Steam.
- Who
- Anthropic updated Claude Code. Addy Osmani confirmed the change.
- What
- Claude was instructed not to recreate a specific existing game. Original games and games based on users’ own designs and assets remain allowed.
- When
- The rule appeared in Claude Opus 5.5’s changelog on October 27, 2026. Anthropic’s update was reported and confirmed on October 30 and 31.
- Where
- In Claude Code, Anthropic’s coding tool.
- Why
- Osmani said using Claude to infringe intellectual property is against Anthropic’s usage policy.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The new rule appeared in Claude Opus 5.5’s changelog.
A user on X drew attention to the rule, and Kotaku reported that Anthropic was deliberately restricting game recreations.
Anthropic technical staff member Addy Osmani confirmed the change.
- Model
- Claude Opus 5.5
- Rule flag
- tengu_heron_brook
- Rule added
- October 27, 2026
- Allowed work
- Original games, games in a genre, and games from users’ own designs and assets
- Anthropic’s stated reason
- Prevent use of Claude to infringe intellectual property
4 sources
Anthropic updates Claude to 'steer it away' from letting users clone games following weeks of Steam being inundated with AI slop
Anthropic takes steps to block Claude from reverse-engineering video games
Anthropic Nerfs Claude Again To Stop Users From Making AI Slop Out Of Any ‘Specific Existing Game’
Anthropic actualiza su política de uso para prohibir comportamientos abusivos en Claude
What people are saying
We added two sentences to Claude Code's prompt on Opus 5.5 to steer it away from recreating someone else's specific game because using Claude to infringe IP is against our usage policy.
original games, genre games, and games built from your own design are meant to keep working.
Do build original games, games in a genre, and games from the user's own designs and assets. Do not build a recreation of a specific existing game, even if it is renamed or called original.
to be gatekeepers telling developers which tools they should or shouldn't use.