AI coding tools have made cloning games so efficient that some indie developers are pulling back from public showcases. Alliance Arts, for instance, delayed the planned demo for its game Drunken Goddess Reflex, saying it was concerned the content could be used to quickly imitate or replicate the game's presentation and gameplay. The studio now plans to share the demo only in closed sessions with rules on posting and streaming.
Other developers expressed similar wariness. Papers, Please creator Lucas Pope said he no longer feels comfortable talking about works in progress because ideas might get "slurped up by AI” or copied. Freya Holmér shared a prototype of a rotational Tetris-style game and within days saw multiple AI-generated clones appear. She said the experience disincentivized her from sharing progress, though she later felt free to take her time and build a version she could be proud of.
The source shows a range of opinions on how to respond. Sosowski framed it as a bind: don't share your game and get no sales, share it and get it stolen. Charlie Greenman, who made one of the clones, defended his version as a new creation in the long tradition of game cloning. Ivan Lago argued that if AI can copy a game overnight, it wasn't a real game, suggesting originality and depth are the better defense. All agree the immediate threat is real, but they differ sharply on whether secrecy or artistic ambition is the best safeguard.