Anthropic cracks down on game cloning in Claude Code after wave of AI-built knockoffs
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Anthropic has implemented restrictions in its Claude Code tool to prevent the recreation of existing video games following a surge in AI-generated knockoffs. Employee Addy Osmani confirmed that specific instructions in the system prompt for Opus 5.5 now block users from cloning other people's games, as such actions violate the company's usage policy regarding intellectual property infringement. These rules apply even if the cloned software is renamed or presented as an original work, although users retain the ability to create their own games and genre titles using custom assets. The crackdown comes after a wave of developers used tools like Opus 5.5 and GPT-6 Astra to produce unofficial browser ports of popular titles such as Halo and GTA Vice City. Additionally, technologies combining AI agents with reverse engineering have enabled the replication of native binaries, leading to high-profile cases like the recreation of Adobe Creative Cloud components and PlayStation 5 emulators. While some users report encountering issues when working on original projects, Anthropic intends to continue refining these policies to address the growing challenge of software cloning.
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