YNOT Pulls Spookitchen Demo After Report of Full AI Copy
The demo was already a working community touchpoint, so pulling it shows indie developers now treating the risk of AI cloning as a cost worth paying before a game even ships.
Reporting from 1 source: Game Spark.
YNOT, the South Korean group behind the restaurant management sim Spookitchen, ended Steam demo distribution on October 20, 2026 after receiving a message that someone was making a complete AI copy of the game. YNOT said the demo was pulled out of concern that a long-developed project would be copied wholesale. The game is made by two sisters, who said user feedback is essential to development.
YNOT's decision lands alongside other cautionary moves in the indie scene. The tower defense roguelite ReVamp canceled a planned public playtest over the same concern and will run a small test on Discord instead, while the drinking survival game PUKEY GODDESS SHOT TRICK dropped its scheduled demo for a closed format. YNOT said the Spookitchen demo was a point of connection with players, and that connection is now the thing being cut.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.