Moonlighter Studio Cancels Playtest Due To AI Cloning [Confirmed]

According to verified reports from PC Gamer published in February 2026, Digital Sun Games has officially cancelled public playtests for its upcoming tower defensevania roguelike ReVamp due to rampant AI-led cloning threats. Marketing manager Israel Mallén confirmed that sharing a build with tens of thousands of players ahead of its March 2027 release creates an unacceptable risk of being reverse-engineered and published by fast-moving competitors leveraging tools like Claude Opus 5.5. The studio's bold decision highlights a growing industry-wide panic over automated code generation and rapid vibe coding clones flooding Steam and mobile stores. Developers are increasingly shielding early builds behind restrictive, invite-only Discord channels to protect proprietary game loops and intellectual property. This defensive posture mirrors broader digital security challenges across the gaming ecosystem, similar to how modders push boundaries like the [Red Dead Redemption 2 Nemesis Mod Brings Mordor AI [Update 2026]](/news/rdr2-nemesis-system-mod-mordor-ai). While restricted playtests reduce initial feedback volume, studios prioritize IP survival over open beta telemetry. As AI cloning velocity accelerates across platforms, developers are rewriting playbook rules to safeguard creative outputs long before commercial launch dates.