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AI Game Clones: What the Steam Next Fest Copycat Wave and Claude Code's New Rule Mean for Blender Artists Who Make Game Assets (2026) | Blended BORIS | Digital Art IP

In the last two weeks of October 2026, fear of AI-made game clones changed how indie studios show their work. Two studios cancelled public Steam demos before Steam Next Fest, Valve told developers on 27 October that it will not police which tools people use, and on 30 October Anthropic confirmed that Claude Code now steers away from recreating a specific existing game. For Blender artists who build characters, props and environments for games, the question is simple: what happens to your models and textures when someone copies the game they live in?
Steam Next Fest, the free demo festival Valve runs several times a year, took place from 19 to 26 October. GamesRadar counted more than 7,000 demos before it opened, almost double the June edition, and reports agreed that many used generative AI. Around the same time, developers began reporting emails that threatened to clone their unreleased games with AI and launch the copy first unless they paid. A Korean games outlet, Gamemeca, described how copycats can take a trailer or a demo and turn it into a similar game, store page and logo within days.
Most of the coverage is about code and game design. But a clone needs art, and the fastest way to get it is to take it. This article sets out what happened, what Valve and Anthropic actually said, which parts of a game the law protects, and what Blender artists can do now to keep proof and control of their work.
TL;DR: AI game clones and Blender artists

Studios behind Drunken Goddess Reflux and ReVamp pulled public demos in October 2026 because they feared AI-assisted copies. Valve said on 27 October that it does not want to be a gatekeeper on tools and announced no new rules. Anthropic added a rule to Claude Code against recreating a specific existing game, but other tools have no such rule. Game ideas and mechanics are hard to protect. Your models, textures, characters and concept art are protected by copyright. Keep dated source files, put extraction bans in playtest terms, watch for lookalikes and use Valve's copyright notice process if your work is copied.

What happened before and during Steam Next Fest?

Alliance Arts cancelled the public Steam demo of Drunken Goddess Reflux, which had been planned for 19 October, citing concerns that AI tools could be used to clone the game's content and release copycats before launch. It replaced the demo with a closed online play session for a limited group chosen by lottery. Its rules for testers ban reverse engineering, extracting or modifying game data and using the build to make an imitating work before release. The game is still due on Steam on 8 December 2026. Outlets noted that no clone of it had actually appeared.
A few days later, Digital Sun, the Valencia studio behind Moonlighter, cancelled the public Steam playtest of its next game, ReVamp. Video Games Chronicle reported the studio's fear that someone could download a public build, clone it with AI and sell the copy first. The studio moved to a smaller playtest on Discord from 29 October and said it hopes to open a public test around January.
Then came the threats. According to Gamemeca and Inven Global, the developer of the Japanese game Dragon's Chronicle received an email around 18 October demanding about 200 US dollars in Steam items within 24 hours, or an AI clone would be released first. The promised video proof was not attached, and Gamemeca described it as most likely a scam. Similar emails had been reported since late September. We found no report of a finished clone of any of these games.

What did Valve say about AI clones?

Valve answered questions at Steam Indie Connect, a developer event co-hosted with the Busan Indie Connect Festival Organizing Committee and the Korea Creative Content Agency, on 27 October. Tom Giardino and Marc Wilkinson of Valve's Steam business team said Valve does not want to decide which tools developers use. In Giardino's words, as reported by Inven Global and Kotaku, "we don't want to be gatekeepers" on that question. Wilkinson said Valve is fully aware of the situation and that many people at the company are thinking about it.
Valve announced no new rules. It said clones existed long before AI, which has only made copying faster, and advised developers to build a community and keep improving their games so that copies cannot keep up. Giardino said he was hearing about the extortion emails for the first time, called them mainly a matter for law enforcement, and asked developers to report such cases so Valve can look into them. Steam's existing AI rule is the disclosure section in its content survey, in place since January 2024, which we covered in our article on Tim Sweeney's attack on Steam AI labels.

What is Claude Code's new rule against cloning games?

Claude Code is Anthropic's AI coding tool. An X user known as Chasm spotted a new instruction in it, pushed around 27 October, which tells the tool to build original games, games in a genre and games from the user's own designs and assets, but not a recreation of a specific existing game, even if it is renamed or called original. As Game Developer reported on 30 October, an Anthropic spokesperson pointed to a post by Addy Osmani of Anthropic's technical staff, who wrote that two sentences were added to Claude Code's prompt on Opus 5.5 because "using Claude to infringe IP is against our usage policy".
Osmani said Anthropic will keep adjusting the balance and asked developers to send him cases where Claude refuses work that is their own. Anthropic has not said whether the rule applies to other models in Claude Code, and Chasm reported that it cannot be switched off. Game Developer also noted the limits: a rule like this may stop low-effort copycats, but people can try to talk their way around it or switch to open-weight models that have no such rule.
For artists, the wording matters. The rule protects a game as a whole, and it explicitly allows building from the user's own designs and assets. It says nothing about AI tools that turn images into 3D models, which is how a copied character could be rebuilt from screenshots. Our report on the open-source Hi3D image-to-3D generator showed how capable and how loosely licensed those tools have become.
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Which parts of a game does the law protect?

Copyright protects expression, not ideas. Gamemeca made the same point: copying only a genre, rules or mechanics is very hard to act against. A game about drinking shots against a demon, or a tower defence game with platforming, is an idea anyone can use. The art is different. Characters, concept art, 3D models, textures, animations, trailers and screenshots are creative works, and the person or studio that owns them can act when they are copied. Our guide to whether 3D models automatically have copyright explains why a model is protected from the moment you make it.
Part of a gameProtected?Who usually owns itBest evidence
Genre, idea, core mechanicGenerally noNobodyShip first, build a community
Characters and concept artYes, copyrightArtist or studio, per contractDated sketches, sculpts, .blend files
3D models, textures, rigsYes, copyright, plus licence termsArtist, or studio under licenceSource files, licence records, timestamps
Code and unreleased buildsCopyright, sometimes trade secretStudioRepository history, playtest terms
Game name and logoTrademark, if used or registeredStudio or publisherTrademark filing, first-use records
Trailers and screenshotsYes, copyrightStudioOriginal project files and masters
Ownership depends on your contract. If you were paid to make art for a studio, the studio may own it or hold an exclusive licence, and the studio decides whether to act. If you sold a model on a marketplace, a buyer's standard licence usually lets them put it in their game, but it does not let someone else rip it out of that game and reuse it. Our guide to Blender marketplace copyright policies covers how those licences differ.
A copy does not have to be perfect to infringe. If a clone uses your extracted model with a new colour, or a character that is plainly rebuilt from your turnaround sheet, the question is whether it copies the protected expression. That is where your proof matters most, because, as Gamemeca put it, developers who ask a store for a takedown have to prove the similarity themselves. Our list of the most common copyright problems for 3D artists walks through how those disputes usually start.

How do clones get hold of game art?

Gamemeca described three routes: rebuilding a game from its trailer or demo, mixing commercial 3D asset packs with generative AI, and reverse engineering builds. For artists, the first and third routes are the ones to watch. A public demo is a copy of your models and textures sitting on thousands of computers. Assets inside a build can often be extracted, which is why Alliance Arts wrote an extraction ban into its playtest rules. Screenshots and trailers can also be fed into image-to-3D tools to produce lookalike models.
The second route is usually legal. A copycat who buys your model on a marketplace under a standard licence can use it, as long as they follow the licence. That is one reason why commercial Blender asset packs end up in many unrelated games. The problem starts when a cloner uses art that was never licensed to them, or passes it off as part of someone else's game.

What should Blender artists do now?

  1. Keep your source files. Save the .blend files, sculpts, texture projects and early versions of every game asset. They are the strongest sign that you made the work first.
  2. Date your work. Timestamp key versions as you go, not only the final export, so you can show the order in which a character developed.
  3. Check your contracts. Know whether you or the studio owns each asset, and who is allowed to send takedown notices for it.
  4. Ask for playtest terms. If you work on a game with a public demo, ask the studio to ban extracting, modifying and reusing game data, as Alliance Arts did.
  5. Mark what you publish. Add your name and a credit line to turnarounds, breakdowns and portfolio renders. The sister blog's guide to Blender metadata and watermarking shows how.
  6. Watch for lookalikes. After a demo or trailer, search Steam and asset stores for your game's key art, character names and screenshots.
  7. Use the copyright notice. Valve's legal page links to a form for anyone who believes their work has been reproduced on its sites in a way that infringes copyright. Our DMCA takedown guide for Blender artists explains what a notice needs.
  8. Do not pay extortion. Keep the email, report it to Valve and to the police, and tell the studio you work with.
If a copy turns up outside Steam, a cease and desist letter is often the next step. For artists in the United States, registering key works early, generally before an infringement starts, keeps statutory damages and legal fees on the table, as our guide on how to register copyright in 2026 explains. The sister blog has more on protecting Blender models from theft and on DMCA takedown procedures.

Where does this fit in the bigger picture?

AI made copying cheap, so the value moves to proof: who made something, when, and under what terms. That is the same lesson as the Frankfurt court's 'it was AI' ruling, where a songwriter kept her rights because she could show her own raw version. Our sister sites looked at the same theme from the engineering side this week:

Conclusion

The October 2026 clone scare is partly real and partly fear. No finished clone of the cancelled demos has been reported, and the extortion emails look like scams. But studios now treat a public build as a risk, Valve has said the answer lies mostly with developers, and AI tool makers are drawing their own lines one product at a time. For Blender artists, the practical answer is the same as before, only more urgent: know who owns your game art, keep dated source files, ask for extraction bans in playtest terms and be ready to file a copyright notice when your models turn up in someone else's game.
Your models, your date, your proof.

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FAQ: AI game clones and Blender artists

Why did studios cancel public demos in October 2026?

Alliance Arts cancelled the Drunken Goddess Reflux demo and Digital Sun cancelled the public ReVamp playtest because they feared someone could use AI tools to clone the game and release a copy before launch. Both moved to smaller closed tests.

What did Valve say about AI clones on Steam?

At Steam Indie Connect on 27 October 2026, Valve said it does not want to be a gatekeeper on which tools developers use and announced no new rules. It advised building a community and asked developers to report extortion attempts, which it called mainly a matter for law enforcement.

What does Claude Code's new rule do?

Since around 27 October 2026, Claude Code on Opus 5.5 is told not to build a recreation of a specific existing game, even if renamed. Original games, genre games and games built from the user's own designs and assets are meant to keep working.

Can someone legally copy my game's idea?

Usually yes. Copyright does not protect ideas, genres or mechanics. It protects the expression, such as your characters, models, textures, code and trailers.

Is it legal for a clone to use a model I sold on a marketplace?

Often yes, if they bought it and follow the licence. It is not covered if they ripped it from another game or broke the licence terms.

How do I report a copy of my art on Steam?

Valve's legal page links to a form for copyright infringement notices. Include the original work, the copy, proof that you own the work and your contact details.

Should I pay if I get an AI clone threat?

No. Keep the email, report it to Valve and the police, and tell the studio. The October 2026 emails came without the promised proof and were most likely scams.

How can BlendedBoris help?

BlendedBoris records a blockchain timestamp of your Blender work from inside Blender, giving you dated proof of when you made each version of a model or texture if a copy appears.
2026-11-02 16:24 News