23 Daily — According to gamesindustry.biz, AI company Anthropic updated its AI coding tool Claude Code on October 27, 2026, to include new internal rules that prevent the tool from directly cloning existing video games. The update aims to preserve originality and protect copyrights in game development.

Claude Code Implements New Rules to Prevent Game Cloning

The update, internally named "tengu_heron_brook," instructs Claude Code to create "original games, genre games, and games from the user's own designs and assets," but explicitly prohibits "recreating a specific existing game, even if renamed or presented as original." Users cannot disable this restriction.

Anthropic Emphasizes Intellectual Property Respect and Ongoing Refinements

Addy Osmani, a technical staff member at Anthropic, confirmed the update on X (formerly Twitter), stating the company added two sentences to Claude Code’s prompt in Opus 5.5 to steer it away from replicating someone else’s specific game, as such use would violate their usage policy. Osmani added that original games built from users’ own designs and assets should continue working, and the company will keep iterating to strike the right balance.

Gaming Industry Concerns Over AI Replicating Games

Game developers are increasingly concerned about AI tools being misused to clone games. Experts note that AI safety restrictions can often be bypassed with carefully worded prompts, and there is no clear way for Claude Code to verify users actually own the game designs or assets they use. Recently, indie developer Digital Sun delayed the public playtest of their game ReVamp due to fears the demo could be fed into AI tools, while Valve faces pressure to clarify how it will prevent AI-made clones from flooding the Steam platform.

Editor's take: Protecting originality builds lasting competitive advantage for startups

Anthropic’s decision to enhance restrictions on Claude Code reflects a growing trend among AI tool developers to actively safeguard game copyright. For startups, maintaining originality in games and digital content is not just an IP issue but a critical factor in brand trust and market differentiation. Monitoring the compliance and originality of AI-generated content will help verify the effectiveness of these restrictions, while investing in unique intellectual properties remains key to long-term competitiveness.