Claude Opus 5.5 refuses game recreation and reverse-engineering requests

On October 31, 2026, Tom's Hardware reported that Anthropic's Claude Opus 5.5 refuses requests to recreate video games and to perform reverse engineering. The same report noted that some users say their non-malicious, generic reverse-engineering tasks have also been blocked.

On November 1, 2026, TechPowerUp followed up, citing user feedback that Claude no longer recreates game mechanics or existing game content, with game cloning, reverse engineering, and decompiling all being turned down. TechPowerUp described such projects as increasingly common in recent weeks, spanning controversial Fortnite and Fallout clones as well as fan-made console ports, and suggested that Anthropic may have tired of the bad press and possible pressure from major game companies, while noting the feedback came via Tom's Hardware. As of the latest report, Anthropic has not published an official statement explaining the restrictions or clarifying which models or request categories are covered.