Why Moonlighter’s Next Game Won’t Be Publicly Playtested

What’s the Buzz?

So, here’s the scoop: the talented folks behind the charming Moonlighter series have decided to skip the public playtest for their upcoming roguelike. Why? Because they’re afraid it’ll be ripped off faster than you can say “reverse-engineered clone.” Yup, you read that right.

Clones Are Taking Over!

Digital Sun Games’ marketing manager, Israel Mallén, spilled the tea on this troublesome trend. With the release of their new game, ReVamp—a funky mix of tower defense and roguelike—set for March 2027, it just feels too risky to let just anyone get their hands on it. Who wouldn’t want to prevent their hard work from being copied and pasted into a cheap knockoff, right?

Is this just them being paranoid? Nah! They’re not alone in this battle. Many developers are raising the alarm as they watch a growing wave of low-effort clones flood platforms like Steam and Roblox, all thanks to some AI coding nonsense. It’s like the Wild West, except you’re getting your ideas stolen instead of your gold!

In a not-so-subtle tweet, Digital Sun called out the issue. “It’s a jungle out there, and we’re not about to let our beloved game get gobbled up by the faster, cheaper, AI clones before it even hits the shelves!” So it looks like this game won’t be making any public appearances until it’s fully ready to strut its stuff in front of the gaming crowd.

Even other studios are taking notice. The creators of Drunken Goddess Reflux canned their public demo plans because they feared their exciting content would also be swiftly hijacked by the clone army. Talk about a bummer!

In short, it seems like these days, it’s all about keeping your creations under wraps until the last minute. Who knew gaming could be both thrilling and a bit treacherous at the same time? So, folks, hold onto your original games and let’s hope platforms step up to protect us from the ever-looming threat of AI-boosted clones!