"It's a wild situation" – An investor and publisher perspective on the rise of AI copycats, the discoverability crisis, and more

A panel at the AI and Games Conference in London examined the dual impact of AI on game development, marketing, and funding, featuring James Barnes of Raw Fury, Stefan Metaxa of Spiderling Studios, and Lirui Ding of Transcend Fund. The discussion focused on the surge of AI-generated game clones, which has forced developers to rethink early public announcements to avoid losing ideas to copycats. Barnes emphasized the need to cultivate authentic communities as a defense against imitation, while Metaxa noted a fundamental shift in industry strategy from long-term wishlist building to controlled, strategic marketing pushes.

The proliferation of AI-created games has intensified the discoverability crisis on Steam, where October releases nearly doubled year-over-year. Lirui Ding warned that while game supply has surged, audience attention has not, leaving the number of titles achieving significant visibility largely unchanged. Metaxa described the competition as a fight for a "same-sized pie," with increased marketing efforts paradoxically giving competitors more time to clone successful concepts, creating a Catch-22 for developers.

Stefan Metaxa observed that platforms like Roblox are already dominated by AI-generated games, with discoverability challenges worsening as Steam trends in the same direction. Barnes added that the decline in games media coverage—shrinking by a quarter to a third over three to four years—has further complicated efforts to reach audiences. Metaxa stressed the importance of early relationships with trusted press and creators who understand a studio’s vision, as generic pitches now face overwhelming competition.

Lirui Ding highlighted the potential of AI-native games to create entirely new experiences, though current business models often struggle with high token costs, as seen in the viral title Scam With Your Friends. Stefan Metaxa criticized many AI gameplay implementations as superficial, while James Barnes noted AI’s role in enabling non-industry developers to prototype ideas and enter the sector. Transcend Fund now evaluates around 2,500 game opportunities annually, using in-house AI tools to filter pitches and improve efficiency in an increasingly crowded market.