Digital Sun Games, the studio behind the acclaimed titles Moonlighter and Cataclismo, has made the decision to postpone the public Steam playtest for their upcoming game, ReVamp. The move comes as a direct response to growing concerns about the potential for generative AI to clone their work before its official release.
In a statement, the developers explained their decision: "So many of you signed up for ReVamp's first playtest on Steam (thank you!), but we've decided to start with something more contained on our Discord, with the public playtest coming a bit later." They cited "recent news of games being reverse-engineered, cloned and published before the original is even out" as the primary reason for delaying the broader access. With the game still months away from launch, the developers felt that a large public build presented "too big a risk."
A closed playtest is slated to begin on Discord on October 29th, with a hope for a public playtest in January. "Showing games early is how indies get seen and find the fans who keep us going, so we hope platforms keep strengthening protections for original work," the developers concluded, advocating for increased platform protections for original intellectual property.
This decision reflects a broader trend within the independent game development community. Recent weeks have seen an increase in reports of games being cloned shortly after or even before their initial release, with some developers of popular games accusing others of using AI to replicate their creations. This has led some studios to reconsider how and when they share early builds or demos with the public.
Last week, the creators of Drunken Goddess Reflux similarly cancelled a planned demo out of fear that it could be used to "quickly imitate or replicate the game's presentation and gameplay with AI or other tools, and that such works could be released before our launch." Digital Sun Games noted this particular incident as a factor in their own decision-making process.
While the impulse to protect creative work is understandable, the issue of game cloning also touches upon the broader dynamics of game development and marketing. Some argue that the proliferation of easily replicable viral hits is a symptom of a marketplace that rewards fleeting trends. However, ReVamp, described as a "rearrangeable modular tower defender in which you play Dracula," appears to be a substantial and original project, with Digital Sun's previous work in action-RPGs and strategy games underscoring their commitment to developing unique experiences.