The prestigious Indie Game Awards has taken the dramatic step of withdrawing two of its highest honours from the acclaimed role-playing game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The awards body rescinded both the Game of the Year and Debut Game awards, mere days after presenting them at the ceremony on December 18, following revelations that the game's developer used generative artificial intelligence during production.
Awards Stripped Over AI Policy Violation
The organizer of the awards, Six One Indie, enforces a strict policy that outright bans the use of any generative AI tools in games that are nominated. According to reports, when French studio Sandfall Interactive initially submitted Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for consideration, its representatives assured the organisers that no AI had been used in the game's development. This claim was later found to be inaccurate.
The controversy erupted when the studio confirmed, on the very day of the awards ceremony, that it had briefly experimented with AI tools back in 2022. The AI was used to generate placeholder textures during the game's pre-production phase. While the developers replaced most of these temporary assets before the official launch, a small number of the AI-generated textures accidentally slipped through the quality assurance process and ended up in the final retail version released to players.
Studio Response and Commercial Fallout
Sandfall Interactive moved swiftly to address the issue once it was spotted by players online in April. The developer removed all offending AI-generated textures from the game within five days of their discovery. In a July interview with Spanish publication El País, producer François Meurisse stated the team had used "some AI, but not much." The studio later clarified that no AI-created assets remain in the current version of the game.
Despite the awards disqualification, the scandal has done little to dent the game's remarkable commercial and critical success. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was a dominant force at The Game Awards 2025, securing an impressive nine wins—a tally that surpasses the eight awards won by Baldur's Gate 3 in 2023. By October, the game had sold over five million copies. Its success was even acknowledged by French President Emmanuel Macron, who congratulated Sandfall Interactive, calling the game a point of national pride for France's gaming industry.
New Winners and Industry-Wide Debate
Following the disqualification, the Indie Game Awards has crowned new champions. The title of Game of the Year has been awarded to Blue Prince, while Sorry We're Closed has received the Debut Game award.
This incident has reignited a fierce debate within the gaming community about the ethical role of generative AI in game development. It has also placed major studios like Larian and Ubisoft, which have explored AI implementations, under increased scrutiny. Questions have been raised about the awards' vetting process, as Six One Indie acknowledged they only discovered Sandfall's AI usage after the voting had concluded and the awards show was recorded.
The case of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sets a significant precedent, highlighting the growing tension between rapid technological adoption and the desire to preserve human-led artistic creation in the gaming world.
