If you hit the request button on ReVamp\u2019s Steam page, you\u2019re not getting in this month. Digital Sun, the studio behind Moonlighter and Cataclismo, had planned a public Steam playtest for ReVamp near the end of October. After many players signed up, it changed course and opted to begin with a smaller test on Discord. The reason is a new one. It\u2019s AI cloning.<\/p>\n
The studio announced the change across Steam, X and Bluesky. It says it\u2019s spooked by games getting copied and shipped before the real thing even exists. According to Game Developer, the smaller test will run as a \u201cmore contained\u201d playtest through its Discord server starting on October 29.<\/p>\n
Some players are sympathetic, others are annoyed about losing their spot, and plenty are asking whether this is where every indie demo ends up:<\/p>\n
ReVamp\u2019s Discord playtest opens in waves from October 29<\/p>\n
Signing up on Steam won\u2019t do it anymore. Kotaku reports that Digital Sun adds that you can still sign up for the Discord playtest ahead of October 29. Access won\u2019t open all at once, either. Discord access to the first playtest will be granted in waves starting October 29. Digital Sun hopes to open the public test around January and says it will admit more players over time.<\/p>\n
The studio did apologise to everyone who\u2019d already queued up. \u201cTo everyone who requested access on Steam: we\u2019re sorry for the change of plans,\u201d says Digital Sun. \u201cWe hope to open the public playtest around January.\u201d<\/p>\n
That \u201caround January\u201d is a hope, not a date. Nobody should treat it as locked in.<\/p>\n
Digital Sun says a build for \u201ctens of thousands\u201d was too risky<\/p>\n
The studio\u2019s public statement doesn\u2019t hedge. \u201cWe\u2019ve been concerned by recent news of games being reverse-engineered, cloned and published before the original is even out. With launch still months away, a large public build of ReVamp felt like too big a risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marketing manager Israel Mall\u00e9n went further when he spoke to PC Gamer. \u201cWith launch still months away, sharing a build with tens of thousands of players feels like too big a risk,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cWe know we\u2019re not the only developers feeling this way, and the more this is talked about, the more likely platforms are to step in.\u201d<\/p>\n
That nudge at platform holders shows up in the studio\u2019s own post too. Its message reads: \u201cShowing 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to see why it hurts. The playtest wasn\u2019t a throwaway. Game Developer notes the studio had announced plans earlier this month to host a public playtest to solicit player feedback, gather metrics, and improve the upcoming game. A Discord test gets you feedback from your keenest fans. You lose the wishlist bump that comes from thousands of strangers trying it.<\/p>\n
Escape the Walls got seven Roblox clones in ten days<\/p>\n
The fear isn\u2019t hypothetical. PC Gamer points to incremental punching game Escape the Walls: after its creator posted footage on X, it was only ten days before at least seven clones were available on Roblox<\/a>, and at least one on Steam. And that was footage. Not even a playable build.<\/p>\n Digital Sun isn\u2019t alone. Alliance Arts cancelled its Steam Next Fest demo for Drunken Goddess Reflux, and the studio said it could not move forward because it believed providing a demo would enable others to quickly produce clones using generative AI. Game Developer puts the root of it down to longstanding limited copyright protections for video game mechanics and advancements in certain LLMs like Anthropic\u2019s Claude and OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT.<\/p>\n Our view: this is the right call for a studio Digital Sun\u2019s size, and it\u2019s also a bad sign for everyone else. Next Fest demos and open playtests are how most of us find the next Moonlighter in the first place. If a clone can land on a storefront before launch day, studios keeping their builds locked up is the sensible move. Players end up paying for it with fewer chances to try before they buy.<\/p>\n