



‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’ previously won a record-breaking number of awards at Game Awards 2025, including Game of the Year.
“>‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’ previously won a record-breaking number of awards at Game Awards 2025, including Game of the Year.
The Indie Game Awards, an annual award ceremony that highlights independent video game publishers, has recently retracted its top award from ‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’, citing the use of generative AI in the game’s development.
The game, developed by Sandfall Interactive, won Game of the Year and Best Debut Game at the awards ceremony on December 18. However, the organisation behind the Indie Game Awards stated that on the day of the premiere, Sandfall Interactive confirmed that generative AI had been used in the game’s production. This conflicted with earlier assurances from the studio that no AI was used when the game was submitted for consideration, according to the awards committee.
As per reports from multiple sources on the matter, the Indie Awards maintains a strict policy against the use of generative AI in nominated games. Following the confirmation, the awards for Game of the Year and Debut Game were officially withdrawn. The awards will now go to the next highest-ranked games in each category: ‘Blue Prince’ will receive Game of the Year, and ‘Sorry We’re Closed’ will receive Debut Game.
Fans and netizens had previously identified what they believed to be AI-generated textures in Clair Obscur shortly after its April launch. These textures were removed in a patch days later, which the developer referred to as replacing a “placeholder texture”, as per a report by Polygon on the matter. In a June interview, Sandfall Interactive’s François Meurisse reportedly acknowledged using a minimal amount of generative AI during development.
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