AI coding tools have made game cloning so fast and efficient that indie developers are increasingly reluctant to share their work publicly. Developer Alliance Arts delayed its Steam Next Fest demo for demon-themed game Drunken Goddess Reflux, fearing that competitors would use AI to replicate the game's presentation and release copies before launch.
The team said they are "concerned that the demo's content could be used to quickly imitate or replicate the game's presentation and gameplay with AI or other tools." Instead of a public demo, they now plan closed sessions with strict rules about posting and streaming.
Papers, Please developer Lucas Pope described the chilling effect: "You don't really talk about stuff when you're working on it because I don't know it's going to get slurped up by AI or people are going to copy it." Developer Freya Holmér went viral after AI-coded copies of her rotational Tetris prototype appeared within days of her sharing it.
The situation creates a paradox for indie developers: don't share your game and get no sales, or share it and risk having it stolen. McPixel developer Sos Sosowski summed it up: "Don't share your game — no sales. Share your game — gets stolen. How do you even survive as an indie in the current landscape?"
