Claude Limits Support for Pokemon Fan Game Developer Spending Up to $2,000 a Month on AI

Anthropic has tightened the rules for the Claude language model, limiting assistance in creating copies of existing video games. The changes affected the developer of the fan project Pokemon Arena 2D, which uses artificial intelligence at almost every stage of game creation. According to him, Claude increasingly refuses to work with the project's code.

The game's creator, known as Big Kid Nation, shared the issue on social network X. He stated that the new restrictions by Anthropic hinder his ability to continue development, despite significant expenses on AI tools.

Just a month ago, the developer reported spending up to $2,000 a month on artificial intelligence. For most of 2026, he claimed to have worked on the game 10–14 hours a day, simultaneously acquiring new skills and creating the project.

Big Kid Nation also responded to criticism from users who call Pokemon Arena 2D an example of low-quality content created by neural networks. He stated that the project has become extremely important to him and he is willing to continue working even under challenging circumstances. However, the developer emphasized that he has not made any money from the game, unlike some authors of other fan projects using itch.io and Patreon.

Why Claude Refuses to Help with the Game

The updated rules for Claude include a clause prohibiting the creation of "recreations of specific existing games." Formally, Pokemon Arena 2D does not replicate one of the franchise's games: it is an arena fighter where the player selects moves for their creatures in real-time.

However, the project uses recognizable elements of Pokemon. Specifically, the graphics are based on sprites from a library compiled by the fan community, and the game features characters and attack names from the franchise. The rights to the corresponding intellectual property belong to Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, and Game Freak.

Anthropic representative Addy Osmani previously stated that using Claude to violate intellectual property rights contradicts the company's rules. Therefore, even original game mechanics do not eliminate questions related to the use of others' characters, graphics, and names.

Pokemon Arena 2D Created Using Vibe Coding

The developer uses so-called vibe coding – an approach where the user describes the desired functions in plain language, and AI generates and modifies the program code. The person mainly checks the result, tests the game, and formulates new requests instead of writing all the code manually.

On the Discord server of Pokemon Arena 2D, Big Kid Nation confirmed that the project is almost entirely created this way. He stated that the team supports the use of AI in creative development not to simplify work but to improve the quality of the result and reduce the time to create the game. Meanwhile, according to him, a team of people is gradually forming around the project.

Despite Claude's restrictions, the developer did not postpone the release. The release of Pokemon Arena 2D is still scheduled for December 2026. Big Kid Nation assured fans that they should not worry about the timeline, but has not yet explained how the team plans to continue working without Claude's previous support.