Lucas Pope Says He Avoids Sharing New Work Early Because It Could Get “Slurped Up by AI”
Lucas Pope, the creator behind Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn, says he is still working on something new, but fans should not expect him to talk much about it before it is ready. In a recent podcast conversation with Mike Rose and Rami Ismail, Pope explained that generative AI has changed how comfortable he feels about openly discussing projects in progress, especially at an early stage.
Pope made clear that his hesitation is not just about whether AI tools can make work faster. For him, the issue is much deeper and much more personal to the creative process. He explained that he does not make games simply to arrive at the final product as quickly as possible. He enjoys the act of making them, and much of his process comes from figuring things out while programming, designing, and building them himself. In that sense, AI does not feel like a useful shortcut. It feels like something that cuts him off from the context and experimentation that help his ideas take shape.
That concern becomes even sharper when it comes to talking publicly about unfinished ideas. During the podcast, Pope said he used to enjoy sharing what he was working on, but now feels much less comfortable doing so because he worries it could “get slurped up by AI” or simply be copied before he has a chance to finish it. It is not something he described as a rigid rule, but more as a lingering discomfort about the current environment around creative work online.
That anxiety does not come out of nowhere. The broader games industry has become increasingly divided on generative AI, especially as more developers feel pressure to use it whether they believe in it or not. In the 2026 State of the Game Industry report, GDC found that sentiment around generative AI has continued to worsen, with 52 percent of respondents saying it is having a negative impact on the industry. One response quoted in the report put that tension bluntly: “AI is theft. I have to use it, otherwise I’m gonna get fired.”
Pope’s comments also tie into another very human fear, which is the pressure of following up extraordinary work. He acknowledged that part of his hesitation around releasing something new comes from the shadow cast by Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn, two of the most acclaimed indie games of the past decade. Their success gave him the freedom to live and work on his own terms, and by his own account he remains fully obsessed with making games. That is what makes his unease around sharing new ideas feel especially unfortunate. It is not the voice of someone disconnected from creativity. It is the voice of someone deeply committed to it, but less confident that the current online environment treats unfinished ideas with care.
There is also something wider here that reaches beyond one developer. Pope’s remarks capture a growing fear among creators that posting early concepts, prototypes, art, and design ideas online no longer feels like harmless openness. In a generative AI era, visibility can feel less like community building and more like exposure. For independent developers in particular, whose work often depends on distinctive ideas and personal execution, that can be enough to change how and when they choose to show anything at all. This is an inference based on Pope’s comments and the broader GDC survey data.
For fans, the result is bittersweet. It is encouraging to know Pope is still making games and still cares deeply about the craft. But it is also a reminder that one of the most original voices in indie development now feels less comfortable sharing his process in public, not because he has run out of ideas, but because he no longer fully trusts the system around them.
Do you think developers are right to become more secretive about new ideas in the age of generative AI, or does that risk making game development feel even more closed off from players?
