Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 had two awards revoked at The Indie Game Awards after the studio admitted to using generative AI assets.
Last Thursday (December 18), Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took home both Game of the Year and Best Debut Game at The Indie Game Awards. However, those honours were revoked two days later after Six One Indie, the show’s organisers, discovered the game’s use of generative AI.
In an official statement published on Six One Indie’s FAQ page, the organisation explained that Sandfall Interactive initially confirmed there was no use of generative AI in the game during the submission process.
However, Sandfall would later admit AI usage during the Indie Game Awards 2025 premiere, which prompted the nomination committee to revoke the awards, as it had violated the event’s regulations.
“When Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was submitted for consideration, a representative of Sandfall Interactive agreed that no generative AI was used in the development of the game. In light of Sandfall Interactive confirming the use of generative AI art in production on the day of the Indie Game Awards 2025 premiere, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been disqualified from its nomination,” Six One Indie stated.
The community responds to IGA's decision
The revocation of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s awards sparked widespread debate across social media. A months-old interview in particular has made its rounds on social media, where a Sandfall Interactive representative mentioned AI usage in a conversation with El País. In it, he stated:
“When the first AI tools became available in 2022, some members of the team briefly experimented with them to generate temporary placeholder textures. Upon release, instances of a placeholder texture were removed within five days and replaced with the correct textures that had always been intended for release, but were missed during the Quality Assurance process.”
Many argued that Sandfall Interactive’s use of generative AI was minimal and quickly patched out, characterizing it as a minor production oversight.
“It’s 2022. Everyone was experimenting with AI because it was just entering the mainstream. The fact that they got disqualified for it is insane,” X user MarauderMK42 commented.
Others agreed with The Indie Game Awards’ decision, noting that the final release did include generative AI–even if only for five days–which still placed it in violation of the competition’s rules.
As a result of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s disqualification, Six One Indie awarded the honors to the next highest-ranked nominees. Best Debut Game was awarded to Sorry We’re Closed by A la Mode Games, while Game of the Year went to Blue Prince by Dogubomb.
With the holiday season approaching, acceptance speeches from the newly-crowned winners are expected to arrive in early 2026.
