One of the most critically adored games of 2025 has just been disqualified from an awards show due to its use of generative AI.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has become one of the most beloved and bestselling games of the year, gaining universal praise from critics, gamers, and industry professionals.
It was nominated for 13 awards at The Game Awards earlier this month, winning nine of them. It also hoovered up awards at The Golden Joysticks and the Grand Game Awards.
This also includes two awards it won at the Indie Game Awards earlier this week, taking home Game of the Year and Debut Game. However, these awards were retracted yesterday due to the inclusion of generative AI assets that were included in the game at release.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Used Generated AI Assets For Placeholder Assets
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was accused of using generative AI for placeholder assets earlier this year after players discovered several textures in the game that featured this art.
Spotted by players on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit, the game included newspaper clipping assets that seem to resemble as though they were generated by AI.
This was later admitted by the developer Sandfall Interactive, with production director François Meurisse admitting the company’s use of AI for development purposes.
“We used some AI, but not much,” he told Spanish publication El PaĂs. “The key is that we were very clear about what we wanted to do and where to invest our efforts. And, of course, technology has allowed us to do things that were unthinkable not long ago.”
It seems that this use of the technology has caused the Indie Game Awards to revoke Sandfall’s win, despite that these assets were patched out shortly after release.
“The IGAs Nomination Committee is officially retracting Debut Game and Game of the Year, awarding both categories to new recipients,” reads a post on the Indie Game Awards’ Bluesky account.
On the Indie Game Awards’ FAQ page, the organisation makes a clear stance on game eligibility regarding generative AI usage, writing “Games developed using generative AI are strictly ineligible for nomination.”
The conversation around generative AI in game development has amplified in recent days following Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios admitting its use of AI tools to help develop the upcoming Divinity game.
Following Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s disqualification, Game of the Year now goes to Blue Prince, while Best Debut Game goes to We’re Closed.
