Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall Interactive is finding itself in hot water over its use of AI generated assets in developing the game.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took home the Game of the Year and Debut Game honors at the Indie Game Awards on Thursday, but the teams at developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive couldn’t celebrate for long. On Saturday, the Indie Game Awards retracted Clair Obscur’s honors due to inclusion of generative AI assets at launch that were quickly patched out.
As detailed on the Indie Game Awards‘ FAQ page, the organization states that „representatives of Sandfall Interactive agreed that no gen AI was used in the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33“ when the game was submitted for awards consideration. „In light of Sandfall Interactive confirming the use of gen AI art in production on the day of the Indie Game Awards 2025 premiere, this does disqualify Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from its nomination.“ Though the AI generated assets were patched out, their initial inclusion was enough for the Indie Game Awards to disqualify Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and retract its awards.
