Decompilation hub decomp.dev freezes leaderboard, blames AI for corrupting scores

The decompilation progress site decomp.dev is closing its public index and leaderboard after creator @encounter said AI misuse has turned a manual source-code hobby into a competitive metric chase, with forks rushing rough ports and abusing open-source openness.

The decompilation tracker decomp.dev is shutting its public index and leaderboard, creator @encounter said, arguing that AI misuse has turned progress tracking into a competitive metric chase rather than a community effort.

The creator built the site in 2024 to centralize matching decompilation progress and grow a community around it. Matching decompilation aims to write hand-written source code that compiles back to the original machine code. @encounter maintains decomp-toolkit, a GameCube and Wii decompilation toolkit, and objdiff, a local diffing tool for decompilation projects.

AI entered the space gradually, but Claude Opus 4.6 and GPT-5.4 changed the pace earlier this year. The models knew the community's tools without instruction, though results still required heavy human cleanup at high cost. More recent models, including OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra, handle complex directions better, write natural code, and act as strong permuters. They stay on task longer and cost less. Without guidance, though, the code can compile to identical machine code without reflecting original developer work.

Bad actors have exploited open-source openness. Some forks use AI to finish others' work with little contribution back. Some original projects avoid AI for legal or ethical reasons. Anyone with an AI subscription can now ship basic ports using tools written by talented humans, allowing opportunists to race out half-working decompilation ports. YouTubers dubbed "Sloptubers" and communities like r/decomps have blurred the line between "decomp" and "PC port," calling ports decompilation when they are not. Decompilation is primarily for research, not ports.

The creator built the site to gamify decompilation when every fraction of a percent demanded real human effort. AI lets users inflate progress percentages faster. The competitive spirit has corroded. The index and leaderboard now cause more harm than good. The scene has become a hollow metric chase where users throw AI at tasks to inflate scores.

Banning AI-assisted projects is impractical. Standards vary, and policing hundreds of projects is too much for one hobbyist. "Slop" is hard to define and harder to moderate.

Existing projects that reached 100% progress, including Super Smash Bros. Melee and Animal Crossing, will keep reporting. Their pages and history remain. No new projects may join, and nobody may rebuild the site from its code. There is no successor and no shutdown date. Matching decompilation used to take years for many games. Better tools sped progress. AI makes it faster, but the percentage scoreboard is gone.

Source : tomshardware.com