The impact of generative AI on the games industry continues at a pace and the consequences are vast - both good and bad.

Developers have been airing concerns that their games are being copied by people using AI tools like Claude - even from something like a demo or a trailer.

We recently discussed on the podcast how one person had been decompiling apps and games to uncover their ‘secrets’. This process can take a matter of minutes and could surely be used for far more nefarious purposes.

The clone wars

Tom Giardino, from Valve’s Steam business team, was recently asked at Steam Indie Connect if the company would do anything about games being copied by AI and developers even being held to ransom by copycat threats.

As Inven reported, he responded: “Rather than relying on a single mechanic that someone can easily copy, you need to keep growing your game by adding features, personality, and creativity that stem from your own perspective.”

It’s a difficult situation for Valve - is it the platform holder’s job to police these tools and act as a gatekeeper? And how might it do that? And at such a volume, is Valve willing to dedicate the resources to uncovering what is a clone and what isn’t? So far on the latter, the answer appears to be no. The volume of AI-developed content is an issue for all platforms. For example App Store reviews for new games are taking longer. Platform holders have yet to figure out how their current systems - where developers have already been concerned there are too many games out there - can apply to this new world without bottlenecks.

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