The Clone Wars have arrived, but this isn’t the Star Wars saga streaming on Disney+. Instead of lightsabers and droids, this battle is unfolding across the tech world where AI is making it easier to recreate expensive software, pirated games, and a growing fight over who really owns the things people buy.
One developer is using artificial intelligence to recreate Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Office. Meanwhile, Sony recently moved against an unofficial PlayStation game store, only for copies of the project to appear within hours. Elsewhere, modders are finding new ways to run older PlayStation games on newer hardware.
Behind these projects is a growing frustration with subscriptions, rising costs, and a digital world where paying for something doesn’t always mean you truly own it. For many consumers, “if buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing” has become a rallying cry, even as the legal distinction between unauthorized copies and legitimate alternatives remains clear.
As one commenter put it in a discussion highlighted by Windows Central, “Begun, the clone wars have.”
AI Is Cloning Adobe and Microsoft Office for Free
Adobe and Microsoft have spent decades building software businesses around applications millions of people rely on every day. Now, an independent developer is attempting to recreate some of those tools with AI, and he’s moving surprisingly fast.
Software developer Brandon Thomas has been using Anthropic’s Claude AI to build ArtCraft, an open-source suite that recreates the look and functionality of seven Adobe Creative Cloud applications. The lineup includes alternatives to Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Lightroom, After Effects, InDesign, and Acrobat Pro.
According to Ars Technica, Thomas has used AI-assisted development and the Rust programming language to build these alternatives. He describes them as clean-room replacements that reproduce software functionality without directly copying proprietary source code. Now, he’s expanding the project to Microsoft Office.
As Mashable reported, the project raises a bigger question about whether AI will make it easier for small developers to challenge established software companies. Microsoft’s ownership of GitHub adds another layer of irony. The company, which acquired the platform in 2018, now hosts the open-source WordCraft, DeckCraft, and GridCraft projects, which were created as alternatives to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
Of course, these projects aren’t ready to replace Adobe Creative Cloud or Microsoft 365 for everyone. Ars Technica describes the Adobe alternatives as being in very early development, with significant gaps between what they offer now and the mature applications they’re trying to reproduce. Recreating a familiar interface is one thing, but delivering years of refinements, dependable support, and professional-grade performance is another.
There are legal questions, too. Reproducing software functionality without copying its source code is different from stealing that code, but imitating a company’s distinctive interface and visual presentation can still raise intellectual property concerns.
Even so, AI is lowering the barriers to software development. Small teams can now attempt projects that once required considerably more time and technical resources. If these alternatives mature, subscription-based software companies could face competition from developers who want to offer capable tools without charging recurring fees.
PlayStation’s Clone Wars Are Moving Much Faster
The gaming side of this fight has taken a different turn, with unofficial storefronts offering links to games that would otherwise cost money.
On October 9, an unofficial storefront called Overdrive appeared on GitHub. It quickly attracted attention for listing more than 1,600 PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games for free through a familiar-looking storefront interface. The project was intended for jailbroken PS5 consoles and linked users to game files hosted by third-party services.
According to TechSpot, Overdrive was reportedly created with Claude. Its developer reportedly received a legal notice from Sony before the original repository disappeared, although neither Sony nor the developer publicly confirmed the notice.
However, the shutdown didn’t last long as a broader deterrent. Within hours, developers had created forks and copies of the storefront, with at least one reportedly listing more than 1,800 titles. Yet those copies are not necessarily hosting pirated games themselves. TechSpot reported that they use storefront code to connect with external databases and file-hosting services. The distinction matters, but for Sony, the broader problem remains: removing one repository doesn’t guarantee that similar projects will disappear.
This also comes at a time when many gamers drawn to these storefronts have voiced concerns about the industry’s move away from physical media. Although those concerns don’t make unauthorized game downloads legal.
PS3 Games Are Finding New Life on the PS5
The push to bypass traditional gaming restrictions isn’t limited to unofficial stores. Some developers are trying to preserve older titles and make them playable on hardware that doesn’t officially support them.
A modder recently claimed to have gotten RPCS3, a popular PlayStation 3 emulator, running as a native application on a jailbroken PS5 Pro. In a Reddit post, the developer said that Need for Speed Carbon runs at a locked 60 frames per second with audio and DualSense support. The developer also reported that inFAMOUS boots, plays, and supports saving and loading, though performance issues remain in more demanding areas.
The project is experimental and requires a modified console. Nevertheless, it offers another example of enthusiasts working to make older games accessible on newer hardware.
There’s progress with physical media, too. As Tom’s Hardware reported, a separate homebrew project has enabled PS2 disc support on jailbroken PS5 consoles, with its developer indicating that PS3 disc support is a future target.
These projects don’t mean ordinary PS5 owners can insert an old PS3 disc and start playing. They do, however, highlight the work enthusiasts are doing to keep older games playable rather than leave their future entirely to official re-releases, subscription catalogs, or continued support from publishers.
AI is also changing the communities behind game preservation, and not everyone sees that as a good thing.
According to Kotaku, decomp.dev, a hub for video game decompilation projects, is shutting down its public-facing service. Decompilation involves reconstructing a game’s code, work that can enable mods, ports, and patches. The site’s operator said newer AI models had accelerated the process but also encouraged contributions that undermined the community’s collaborative spirit.
“The community aspect of decompilation has been broken,” the site’s farewell message explained.
The closure highlights a trade-off in the growing use of AI for game preservation. The technology could help enthusiasts bring older games to new platforms and make modifications easier to develop. At the same time, it could undermine the communities that have spent years working together to keep those games accessible.
The Real Fight Is Over Digital Ownership
These stories may be unfolding in different corners of the internet, but they all stem from concerns about what consumers lose as more products and services move fully online.
Software subscriptions can make essential tools expensive over time. Digital games can depend on accounts and publisher-controlled services. Meanwhile, older titles can also become difficult to play when official support ends or they disappear from modern platforms.
As explored in The Future of Gaming Looks a Lot Like the Future of Streaming, gaming is moving toward a model where consumers increasingly pay for access rather than enjoy the flexibility associated with physical copies.
Furthermore, Sony has added to those concerns after announcing it will stop producing physical discs for new PlayStation games beginning in January 2028. New releases after that cutoff will be available digitally, although games released on disc before then aren’t affected.
Shortly after Sony’s announcement, rental company GameFly pushed to keep physical game rentals alive with a message to gamers. Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden has also questioned what consumers really own when they can’t freely resell a digital purchase.
In comments reported by IGN, Layden, who was interviewed on The Expansion Pass podcast, challenged what consumers are really buying if they cannot freely resell a game: “If you don’t own it, then what are you buying?”
For critics of an all-digital future, that’s the concern. Without the ability to resell, lend, or permanently retain a purchase, ownership begins to look more like a temporary license. That helps explain why the phrase “if buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing” resonates with some consumers. It’s an expression of frustration over a system they believe gives companies too much control after a sale.
Frustration may be understandable, but it isn’t a legal defense for downloading or distributing unauthorized copies, and software developers still need a way to fund the products they create. The more productive question is whether companies can offer fair prices, durable access, and meaningful ownership without forcing customers to choose between paying repeatedly and seeking unauthorized alternatives.
The debate has also reached Congress. Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York announced the proposed Power To The Players Act on October 15. The legislation would direct the Federal Trade Commission to establish rules protecting consumers’ ability to own and play the games they purchase. It would also require games with online functionality to provide an offline mode before their supporting servers are shut down.
The proposal tackles an issue that goes beyond physical media and asks what happens when a company ends support for a game that customers have already paid for.
What Happens Next?
AI-assisted development could make it easier to build alternatives to expensive software, while emulation and preservation projects could keep older games playable long after official support fades. At the same time, companies will continue defending their intellectual property and the business models that support their products.
The technology driving these projects could also change entertainment itself. In a recent interview with 4Gamer, PlayStation co-creator Ken Kutaragi predicted that real-time AI-generated video and music could reach performance levels comparable to today’s gaming hardware around 2028 or 2029. He suggested that the shift could fundamentally change how people create and experience entertainment.
That’s a much bigger vision than recreating Photoshop or building an unofficial game store. It suggests AI could eventually change how software is made, how games are experienced, and who gets to participate in creating them.
For now, the clones remain works in progress, and the legal boundaries are far from settled. But the message from their creators and supporters is clear. Consumers want more affordable tools, fewer restrictions, and better ways to preserve the things they pay for.
Companies can keep playing defense against every new clone, but a better offense may be the smarter strategy. Fair pricing, easier access, and real ownership rights could ultimately be more effective at winning customer loyalty.
