Anthropic has updated Claude to block users from cloning existing video games. The restriction targets Claude Code specifically within Opus 5.5. It arrives after weeks of AI-generated game copies flooding Steam. However, the filter is already catching legitimate developers too.
An X user named Chasm first spotted the change around October 27. They found a server-side instruction flagged as “tengu_heron_brook.” That directive explicitly prevents Claude from recreating specific games. Notably, it applies even when users rename elements or claim originality.
Anthropic’s Addy Osmani confirmed the update publicly afterward. He explained the restriction in remarkably concise terms. “We added two sentences to Claude Code’s prompt on Opus 5.5,” he wrote. Their purpose was steering Claude away from recreating someone else’s game.
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 designs and assets are meant to keep working.
We’ll continue to iterate to ensure we’re striking the right balance. In the meantime, if Claude turns down something that’s yours, send it my way.
— Addy Osmani (@addyosmani) October 30, 2026
The new rule draws a clear line for users. Claude can still build original games freely. It can help with games within a genre too. Additionally, it works with users’ own designs and assets. However, recreating a specific existing game is now off limits.
The restriction responds to a genuine industry crisis directly. In recent weeks, popular indie games faced brazen AI-powered copying. Several developers even pulled their demos from Steam entirely. They feared anyone could instantly clone their work using AI.
Anthropic also faces potential legal exposure from such copying. Using Claude to infringe intellectual property violates its usage policy. Therefore, the company moved to reduce that risk proactively. The update aims to protect both creators and Anthropic itself.
However, developers quickly raised a significant practical problem. Claude cannot reliably distinguish between a copycat and an owner. Consequently, the filter has blocked legitimate work on original projects. Developers reported Claude refusing standard debugging and reverse-engineering tasks.
Reports on Claude Code’s GitHub tracker showed real frustration. Users described refusals during perfectly ordinary game development. Osmani acknowledged these false positives openly afterward. He invited affected developers to flag wrongly blocked projects directly.
Whether two sentences can solve a systemic problem remains unclear. The AI game cloning wave extends well beyond Claude alone. Other AI coding tools face identical misuse challenges currently. For now, Anthropic iterates while developers adapt to unexpected friction.
