A developer canceled a planned public demo over worries that AI could copy the game and release a clone first. Drunken Goddess Reflux was set for a public demo on October 19. Alliance Arts will instead run a closed playtest with restrictions on sharing and streaming. The studio says the issue goes beyond piracy. They fear players could study the demo’s gameplay and presentation, then use AI to clone it “We are concerned that… works imitating or replicating this game’s presentation and gameplay could be quickly produced using AI or other tools and released ahead of the game’s launch.”

A U.S. congressman wants to change how we legally “own” video games. Rep. Ritchie Torres has announced plans to introduce the Power To The Players Act, a bill that would direct the FTC to create rules protecting consumers who buy video games. The proposal would give players three basic rights: >The right to own the games they purchase, rather than simply receiving a revocable license >The right to keep playing games after online servers are shut down, through an offline mode >The right to transfer or resell games they own Torres argues that if a company can take a game away simply by shutting down its servers, then the consumer didn’t really buy the game in the first place. Torres also hopes the legislation could eventually establish a precedent for ownership rights across other parts of the digital economy: “If you pay for it, you own it.”

RimWorld is switching from Unity to its own game engine, and the game is now 2–4 times faster in the developers’ tests. Ludeon Studios has announced Waylith, its new engine, which brings faster loading times and quicker map generation. Somehow most existing mods still work without needing any changes Update 1.7 is available on Steam’s unstable beta branch, while the main version remains on 1.6. Ludeon is also developing another game using Waylith.