Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been officially disqualified from the 2025 Indie Game Awards after developer Sandfall Interactive confirmed the game's use of generative AI in its development. Six One Indie, the creators of the Indie Game Awards, announced that this use of generative AI has disqualified them Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from taking home the two awards it won during the December 18 show, now moving to runner-up.
The use of generative AI in game development has been a hot topic recently, with the winner of Game of the Year 2023 Baldur's Gate 3s developer, Larian Studios, recently came under fire for its use of AI in the development process of its recently announced game Divinity. The topic of AI in game development has left the industry divided, with some developers, such as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Director Daniel Vávra, comes out to support Larian's use of AI in its conceptual development phase. Meanwhile, other industry veterans like Bruce Staley, co-director of The last of ushas taken a stand against the use of AI to create game art, a sentiment shared by the team at Six One Indie that led to the disqualification of Expedition 33 from the Indie Game Awards.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 gets disqualified from Indie Game Awards due to AI usage
In a statement posted on the Indie Game Awards FAQ page regarding Expedition 33With the awards withdrawn, Six One Indie is taking a hard line against the use of AI generation in game development, claiming that Sandfall agreed during the nomination process that no gen AI was used in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. On the day of the Indie Game Awards showcase, December 18, Expedition 33 Producer Francois Meurisse confirmed that the game had indeed used some generative AI during the development process, leading Six One Indie to withdraw the awards the game won that night.
While Clair Obscur was originally awarded the Debut Game and Game of the Year awards, these were withdrawn following confirmation that AI was used in its development. The runner-up for these honors received the prize after this disqualification, with Unfortunately we have closed take home the Debut Game award, and Blue Prince win the game of the year award. The developers of these games, à la mode games and Dogubomb, were invited to record acceptance speeches that will likely be published in early 2026.
The AI-generated assets i Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was used as a placeholder and was eventually patched out of the game. However, this use still violates the rules laid out by the Indie Game Awards regarding AI use in games Expedition 33 not eligible to win. Despite its use of AI-generated placeholder assets, Sandfall has stated that it is firmly against “creative” AI being used to replace human-created art in game development.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Still took home a record number of awards at the Game Awards 2025
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Game of the year
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Best game direction
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Best story
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Best Art Direction
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Best Music and Score (Lorien Testard)
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Best Performance (Jennifer English)
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Best RPG
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Best independent game
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Best Indie Debut Game
Even with the controversy surrounding its use of generative AI, Clair Obscur managed to set the record for most awards won at The Game Awards 2025, taking home 9 total awards from its 12 nominations, including the coveted Game of the Year award. Many fans had predicted that the game would be a tough contender to beat at TGA 2025, but setting a new record is a much more remarkable feat than expected. In light of revelations about Expedition 33AI use in development, the wider gaming industry is now at a crossroads with this technology and must learn how to cross a divide that can see a game win big despite its use, while losing due to the same AI tools.
- Released
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April 24, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer
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Sandfall Interactive
- Publisher
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Kepler Interactive
