Moonlighter studio delays ReVamp Steam playtest over AI copycat fears
Digital Sun has delayed the planned Steam playtest for its new game ReVamp over fears the build could be copied before launch.
The studio behind Moonlighter and Cataclismo said putting an early version in front of tens of thousands of players months ahead of release was too big a risk. The launch date itself has not moved.
ReVamp is a tower-defence strategy roguelike developed by Digital Sun, a base-building game where each run reshuffles rooms, enemies and upgrades. Players take the role of Dracula, shaping a fortress room by room and commanding an army of monsters to defend the castle, according to IGN.
The change was announced in a Steam blog post, according to Eurogamer. Instead of an open trial on Steam, the PC storefront where the test had been planned, the team will run the first playtest in a more contained group on Discord, the chat app many studios use to organise community testing.
Access on Discord will be granted in waves starting 29 October 2026. Digital Sun said it hopes to open the wider public playtest around January 2027, about two months before release. The full launch is scheduled for 25 March 2027.
The stated reason is cloning. The studio pointed to the danger of a game being reverse-engineered, taken apart to understand how it works, then copied and published before the original is out. It linked that risk specifically to generative AI, software that can produce text, images and code from prompts and speed up imitation, according to Game Developer.
Digital Sun also called on platforms, the storefronts and console makers that host and sell games, to keep strengthening protections for original work, as reported by Rock Paper Shotgun.
It is not the only team pulling back. Alliance Arts cancelled a Steam Next Fest demo, a short free trial prepared for Steam's seasonal showcase event, for Drunken Goddess Reflux. Its concern was that the game's presentation and gameplay could be imitated using AI before launch.
For players, this means waiting longer for a hands-on try. Open tests find bugs fast. Closed tests keep ideas closer. Digital Sun has chosen the second path for now, with a small Discord group first and the public invited later.
