The Indie Game Awards has withdrawn two awards previously given to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, not because of the debate about what does and doesn’t constitute an “indie” game, but because a representative of Sandfall Interactive had agreed that no gen AI had been used in the development when, in fact, it had.
“The Indie Game Awards have a hard stance on the use of gen AI throughout the nomination process and during the ceremony itself,” the nomination commitment explained. “When it was submitted for consideration, a representative of Sandfall Interactive agreed that no gen AI was used in the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
“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.”
Now, in a video and a statement posted to the Indie Game Award website – and despite the fact “the assets in question were patched out and it is a wonderful game” – the awarding team said this “does go against the regulations”.
The IGAs Nomination Committee is officially retracting Debut Game and Game of the Year, awarding both categories to new recipients. Additionally, we are retracting one of the Indie Vanguard recipients.
Full details can be found in our FAQ under Game Eligibility: www.indiegameawards.gg/faq— The Indie Game Awards (@indiegameawards.gg) 20 December 2025 at 18:45
As a result, the IGAs nomination committee has agreed to officially retract both the Debut Game and Game of the Year awards and give them to the next highest ranked game in each category. This means Debut Game will now be reassigned to Sorry We’re Closed, and Blue Prince secures Game of the Year, acceptance speeches for which will be recorded and shared in the new year.
The IGA has not provided any information on what the offending image – or images – are, but fans believe they’ve found a couple of examples here and here. Allegedly, they have been patched out and no gen AI images remain in the game.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been going from strength to strength this year. Following its release back in April, the game was met with widespread acclaim and sales to match. In May, the developer revealed it had passed a fitting milestone of 3.3m copies sold. In October, that figure was updated to over 5m copies worldwide across all formats. The success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has even been publicly acknowledged once again by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said its Game of the Year win was a source of “great pride for Montpellier and for France”.
