Claude Code now has a rule against building a copy of a specific existing game, even if the copy is renamed or called original. Games you design yourself, games in a genre, and games built from your own assets are still allowed. Anthropic's Addy Osmani confirmed the change on X on Oct. 30.

The rule

Anthropic's Addy Osmani, a member of technical staff, wrote on X that two sentences were added 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." He added: "Original games, genre games, and games built from your own designs and assets are meant to keep working. We'll continue to iterate to ensure we're striking the right balance."

The wording of the rule was spotted by an X user, Chasm, and reported by Game Developer. It reads: "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." The report says the update was pushed around Oct. 27; Anthropic has not given a date.

What this means for you

  • Allowed: a new game of your own design, a game in a genre (for example, a platformer or a roguelike), and a game made from designs and assets you own.
  • Refused: a recreation of a named, specific game. Renaming it or calling it original does not change that.
  • Undefined: the rule text does not say where "genre" ends and cloning begins. Anthropic says it will keep adjusting the balance.

Why it came up now

The report ties the change to developer worries about AI clones. It notes that Digital Sun Games canceled a public playtest of ReVamp over fears of cloning, and that Moonlighter's developer delayed a playtest for the same reason.

What is still unclear

The same report points out it is unclear how the software would decide whether a user owns a game idea or its assets. Anthropic has not said how Claude Code makes that call. We found no entry about the change in the Claude Code changelog, so it appears to be a prompt change rather than a listed release note.

Related

For another recent Claude Code story, see the tampered Claude Code extension in Cursor. For Anthropic's other developer-facing work, see Agent Skills donated to the Agentic AI Foundation and Claude Duet, a proactive agent. More is in AI & Apps.