Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 no longer holds the Indie GOTY title
The grassroots-funded Indie Game Awards has withdrawn its Game of the Year award from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 after developer Sandfall Interactive confirmed the use of generative artificial intelligence during development. Prize organizer Six One Indie stated that the admission violated the strict no-AI policy that applies to all nominated games.
Following this decision, the awards moved Game of the Year and Debut Game to the next highest ranking positions. Blue Prince is now in contention for Game of the Year. AND, Sorry, we are closed takes home the debut game award.
The IGA Nominations Committee is officially withdrawing the Debut Game and Game of the Year awards, awarding both categories to new winners. Additionally, we are revoking one of our Indie Vanguard recipients. Full details can be found in the Game Eligibility FAQ: www.indiegameawards.gg/faq.
— Indie Game Awards (@indiegameawards.gg) 2025-12-20T18:45:10.232Z
In an official statement, the Indie Game Awards explained that they take a strong position on generative artificial intelligence in video games and discuss this position throughout the year when evaluating nominees. The statement notes that Sandfall Interactive previously agreed that generative AI was not used when submitting Expedition 33 for consideration. However, the developer later confirmed that this information was incorrect. As a result, the nomination committee decided that the game no longer met the eligibility requirements and officially withdrew both awards.
Community discussions on Reddit suggest that generative AI may have been used to create the newspaper-style textures found in the game. Those assets have reportedly since been removed.
Despite the cancellation of the Indie Game Awards, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 remains one of the most awarded releases of the year. The RPG developed in France has achieved great success in Game rewards earlier this month during a record-breaking night. Jennifer English received awards for Best Indie Game, Best Indie Debut Game, Best Art Direction, Best Score, Best RPG, Best Story, Best Game Direction and Best Performance.
At The Game Awards, the game failed in only two categories. Battlefield 6 was named Best Audio Design and Wuthering Waves won the Players' Voice award as voted on by players.
