What changed
Anthropic has implemented new restrictions in its coding assistant, Claude Code, to block users from recreating existing video games. Employee Addy Osmani confirmed on X that two sentences in the system prompt for Opus 5.5 now prevent the tool from cloning other people's games. The rule has been active for several days and applies even if a clone is renamed or presented as an original work.
What this means in practice
Users can still create their own games, genre titles, and projects with custom assets. However, some users have reported issues with their original projects as well. The change follows a wave of AI-powered cloning projects, including hundreds of unofficial browser ports of well-known titles like Halo and GTA Vice City. Tools like Reverse Engineer Anything have been used to pair AI agents with reverse engineering to convert native binaries into readable pseudocode. One developer gained attention for recreating parts of Adobe's Creative Cloud apps, and Sony's PlayStation 5 also became a target after a jailbreak led to a wave of emulators.
Limitations and availability
The update is part of Anthropic's ongoing efforts to address intellectual property concerns. Osmani stated that the company plans to continue refining the rules. The change does not affect the ability to create original content, but it does limit the use of Claude Code for cloning existing games. The supplied announcement does not specify the exact scope of the restrictions or how they are enforced.
