Anthropic Restricts Claude From Recreating Existing Video Games

On November 1, Anthropic’s change to Claude Code’s instructions was drawing attention from video game developers and users. The update tells the AI tool not to reproduce a particular existing game, even if a request describes the project as renamed or original.

Anthropic technical staff member Addy Osmani confirmed that the company had added guidance to Claude Code on Opus 5.5. He said the aim was to steer the tool away from recreating another creator’s specific game because using Claude to violate intellectual property rules conflicts with the company’s usage policy. Osmani said original games, genre-based projects, and games built with a user’s own designs and assets should remain possible.

The new instruction appeared in a Claude Code version released on October 30 and may have been added around October 27. The rule does not appear to prevent AI-assisted game projects altogether. Recent projects have used AI to decompile or recreate established games for play in web browsers, including Halo: Combat Evolved, as well as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, alongside Grand Theft Auto V.

Some users have raised concerns that the restriction could interfere with legitimate game development. Osmani said Anthropic would keep adjusting its approach and invited users to flag cases where Claude refuses work on a game that belongs to them.