AI Video Game Mashups Are Going Viral, but Do They Cross the Line Into Copyright Infringement?

Users have been making video game mashups using Anthropic's Claude Opus 5.5 to decompile two games and run them simultaneously (representative image) (Credit: Unsplash - Planet Volumes)

AI-powered video game mashups are spreading across social media, combining titles such as Minecraft and Elden Ring or Spider-Man and Batman: Arkham Knight. But as these experiments showcase AI-assisted modding, they raise a legal question: could recreating or combining elements of existing games amount to copyright infringement?

One example makes it appear as though firing a bow in Minecraft causes Steve to shoot an arrow in Elden Ring. Yet the effect may be closer to an elaborate visual trick than a genuine merger of the two games.