Indie developers say AI clones deter sharing unfinished games
Original title: AI game clones are making indie developers afraid to show their work
Developers describe a bind: sharing prototypes invites copies, while withholding them costs sales.
Indie developers told Ars Technica that AI-generated clones of prototypes, including a rotational Tetris concept, make them reluctant to post work in progress. Sos Sosowski framed promotion as a choice between no sales and having a game copied. One clone poster, Charlie Greenman, told 404 Media he saw nothing wrong with his copy. Others argue only thin, single-mechanic games are easy to clone, while the Tetris prototype’s author said clone attention later faded.
Unconfirmed: Claims that only shallow games are cloned, and that cloning is harmless, are opinions from individual developers.
- Sosowski wrote: don’t share and get no sales, or share and get stolen.
- Greenman compared game copying to songs and to Blox, Jenga, and Tetris.
- Holmér said daily AI clones appeared in the prototype’s first week, then engagement fell.
From the original article
2 min read at arstechnica.com
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