There are few game developers quite like Lucas Pope. He created two of our favorite games of the 2010s with Papers, Please and The Return of the Obra Dinn, and practically created two brand new genres, too. Since that grand success, he’s released some understated titles, including flash games and the Playdate-exclusive Mars After Midnight, but nothing on Steam. However, in a new podcast appearance, he’s said that he’s worried about announcing his next project because of AI.
Appearing on the Mike & Rami Are Still Here podcast with publisher Mike Rose and developer Rami Ismail, Pope looked back on the success of Papers, Please and Obra Dinn, as well as his smaller efforts since. But when asked how he feels about the modern development landscape and what his plans are for his next major release, he reveals that he’s worried about idea theft from generative AI and other developers.
“The situation feels different to me,” he says. “You don’t really talk about stuff when you’re working on it because it’s going to get slurped up by AI or people are gonna copy it, or something else like that. It’s not a hard rule, I just don’t feel as comfortable talking about the stuff I’m working on.”
So it’s not overt secrecy that’s keeping Pope’s mouth shut when it comes to his ideas and new projects, it’s just a sense of foreboding about the industry and how people react to announcements, whether that be feeding a trailer into a generative AI model to recreate the mechanics with none of the artistic intent, or just old-fashioned copycats beating him to the punch. However, Pope is also worried about following up his early success.
“I was pretty happy with Obra Dinn and Papers, Please. But maybe I can’t do it again. Maybe [I should] just go out on a high note. Why drag myself down with the next thing that people might not like?”
Personally, I doubt that Lucas Pope can make a bad game. His brain just seems to create indie games that tick all the right narrative and mechanical boxes for my brain. Whether I’m cranking up a hatch on an alien coffee shop or exploring a haunted mansion on his itch.io page, they always hit the spot. That said, professional anxiety can clearly come for even the best.
His fears about AI mirror those of many players, who have turned on LLMs and generative AI in recent months. Developers are defending traditional (and silly) placeholder assets, the long-held accusations of plagiarism are coming from some of the industry’s most important voices, and even Arc Raiders is replacing its AI voices. There’s little wonder Pope is worried his games, which are wholly mechanically original and often pioneer or champion new aesthetics, will be stolen.
Plus, he’s got the benefit of being Lucas Pope. He doesn’t have to play the same game as other, less successful or recognizable indie developers. He won’t have to join the rat race for a publishing deal or worry about marketing to the same extent. Stick his name on the game, and people will play it. Whether it’s a good game or not is another question, but I’d put money on him smashing it out the park all over again whenever he decides to publish his next game.