Anthropic updates Claude to 'steer it away' from letting users clone games following weeks of Steam being inundated with AI slop

Anthropic has modified its Claude Opus 5.5 model to prevent users from creating exact replicas of existing games, addressing widespread concerns over AI-generated clones on Steam. The update adds a rule to Claude Code's guidelines instructing the AI to avoid recreating specific games, even if renamed, while permitting original designs or genre-based projects. Anthropic confirmed the change through a technical staff member, emphasizing compliance with usage policies against intellectual property infringement.

The adjustment follows reports from game developers whose projects were rapidly reverse-engineered using AI tools, leading some studios to cancel public demos to prevent further exploitation. Anthropic acknowledged the need to balance restrictions with creative freedom, noting that legitimate original and genre-based game development would remain unaffected. The company invited developers to report instances where legitimate projects were incorrectly flagged.

Claude Opus 5.5's ability to reverse-engineer code has disrupted the industry, enabling quick decompilation of older console titles and contributing to the jailbreaking of a major console platform. The update arrives amid a surge of low-effort, AI-assisted games on Steam, many of which closely mimic existing titles. This trend has intensified during recent events like Steam Next Fest, where AI-generated demos significantly increased.

Valve, which operates Steam, has acknowledged the issue of AI slop but has avoided imposing outright bans on AI coding tools. At an industry event, Valve's Tom Giardino stated the platform aims to avoid acting as a gatekeeper, instead encouraging developers to enhance their games with unique features and creativity to deter copying.