Anthropic restricts Claude from reproducing specific video games — Ars Technica
Anthropic has added a rule to Claude Code’s system instructions that prohibits the model from reproducing specific existing video games, even if a user changes their name or calls the result original. At the same time, Claude is expected to continue helping create original games, projects in a particular genre, and games based on the user’s own design and assets, Ars Technica reports.
A new rule for Claude Code
A decompilation enthusiast using the pseudonym chasm drew attention to the change at the end of October. According to him, the rule appeared in a Claude Code JSON file around October 27. XDA independently confirmed the presence of this instruction in the binary file of Claude Code version 2.1.314, released on October 30.
Anthropic engineer Addy Osmani confirmed that the company added two sentences to the Claude Code prompt for the Opus 5.5 model. According to him, the goal was to steer the model away from reproducing specific games belonging to others, as using Claude to violate intellectual property rights is contrary to the service’s policy. Osmani also said that Anthropic would continue adjusting its approach in order to preserve the ability to create original games.
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Wave of AI ports and decompilations
The new restrictions emerged amid the spread of game projects created with artificial intelligence programming tools. These include copies of game demos, as well as thousands of projects involving the decompilation and porting of retro games to other platforms. Such tools have significantly accelerated work that previously required considerable effort from programmers.
The decomp.dev community, dedicated to game decompilation, announced its closure last month. Its administrator, Luke Street, explained that the development of AI tools had changed the community-based nature of the work: new participants are focused on quickly porting games, including by using decompilations to which they themselves did not contribute.
Restrictions will not stop all copies
As Ars Technica notes, those wishing to reproduce games may switch to other advanced models without such restrictions or to open models. At the same time, the new instruction may help Anthropic reduce the risk of potential liability in copyright infringement cases. The publication also notes that the line between a direct copy, a game in a particular genre, and a creative adaptation can be difficult to determine even in court.
