Abstract:
Rohan Varma, an employee of OpenAI, developed the browser game "Eldwood". This work written by AI is a copycat of "Legend of Rune". After triggering negative public opinion among the "Legend of Rune" player community and receiving a cease-and-desist notice from developer Jagex, Varma has removed the game from the shelves.
Varma did not release a live demonstration video of "Elderwood", but according to Eurogamer, the screenshots he posted on his X platform personal homepage showed that the game's screen is highly similar to the UI and the old version of "Legend of Rune". The place names in the game are also exactly the same as those in the "old version of Rune Legends", including the well-known town of Lumbridge, which Varma himself clearly called in some posts a replica of the "old version of Rune Legends". Varma is a developer of the Codex project under OpenAI. This AI tool that focuses on code generation is the core tool for his development of "Elderwood".
On September 6, Varma published his first post about "Elderwood" on the X platform. On September 7, user Nutty103X forwarded relevant content on the Reddit subreddit of "Old Version of Rune Legend", attracting players' attention. The user called on Jagex to issue a cease-and-desist letter to the copycat game. Most commenters shared the same attitude, with some criticizing the quality and originality of Elderwood. On the same day, Varma also posted, "There was a surge in users earlier today because we accidentally became popular on the Reddit section of "Old Rune Legends."
According to Eurogamer, "Elderwood" was removed from the shelves on September 9, and the browser game's page was replaced with Varma's farewell statement. The statement read: "We received a notice from Jagex requiring us to remove the website. After receiving the notice, we have stopped the operation of "Elderwood" and the game is now inaccessible."
"Eldwood began as a browser-based multiplayer adventure game inspired by Rune Legends. In just a few days, it grew into a shared world of exploration, skill training, quests, trading, and battle—and along the way, it was shaped by everyone who played and shared their ideas."
Varma also expressed his gratitude to the players and said that the website will be retained and will continue to display the high score rankings of "Elderwood".
In my opinion, this farewell statement is too much for a copycat game that copies the style and quality of the original game. The light-speed experience of "Elderwood" from online to offline reminds me of the fate of many Nintendo fan games, but the key difference is that those fan games are usually non-commercial creative projects, while this work is essentially a propaganda tool for OpenAI's blatant copyright infringement. For another example, in order to prove that it had mastered the 2D high-speed scrolling screen technology of the DOS platform, id Software privately transplanted "Super Mario 3"? That is an interesting copyright infringement.
The approach of "rapidly iterating and breaking conventions" in this incident was so clumsy that I was stunned. OpenAI has been controversial for its generally negative impact on the creative field, creative ownership, and the ability of creators to make a living from their art. Regardless of Varma's original intention for this project, he is a representative of OpenAI and has been using "Elderwood" to showcase the company's technical achievements.
"Elderwood" is essentially an irresponsible copyright infringement for the purpose of publicity. It is exactly the same as the ridiculous things caused by the White House social media account in the United States, and it also made Varma's pretentious farewell statement even more glaring.
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