Game marketing analyst lists four game types that AI tools can clone fastest

The four categories

Game marketing expert Chris Zukowski has published an analysis of which games are easiest for AI tools to copy, Game World Observer reported on 12 November 2026. He named four types of projects that are particularly exposed to cloning.

The first is games built around a single gimmick. Zukowski cited the horror game Don't Scream, in which the hero dies if the player screams into the microphone. He drew a line between a gimmick and a hook: a gimmick can be fully experienced in a few minutes and quickly becomes stale, while a hook only becomes clear when someone plays the game, not from a trailer or screenshots.

The second type is games without a unique visual style. When artists have not put work into the game's appearance, an AI clone can be produced much faster, he said.

The third is games that strictly follow genre conventions. Zukowski said there is nothing wrong with that in itself, since players immediately understand what to expect, but a predictable formula lets clone makers keep familiar mechanics and change only the setting.

The fourth is games whose content is generated by game systems. These often rest on simple rules and a set of numerical parameters, which makes them easy to copy. He named Dwarf Fortress, with its deep simulation of the game world, as an exception.

Advice on marketing and demos

Zukowski said he is not asking developers of such games to drop their projects out of fear of clones. He believes they can still succeed, provided they know the risks.

His recommendation is to hold back on marketing until a backup plan exists. In his words, developers should stay quiet and not start promoting the game until they are ready for cloners to appear.

He argued that a finished demo is the strongest protection. Zukowski said the first game to release a quality demo will win, and the others will be called clones.

The analysis did not address how AI cloning affects the legal position of developers or what remedies they have. Zukowski's remarks were published as an opinion, not as a study with measured data.