Indie Game Awards Strips Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 of Game of the Year Over Gen AI, Dev Says 'Placeholder' Textures Were Patched Out After Slipping Through QA Process

Fresh from receiving the Game of the Year grant astatine The Game Awards 2025, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been stripped of 2 awards from the Indie Game Awards aft its usage of generative AI deed the headlines.

Sandfall Interactive’s record-breaking role-playing crippled launched with immoderate placeholder textures built with generative AI. The developer patched them retired 5 days aft release, insisting they made the chopped by mistake. This went nether the radar until recently, erstwhile comments from Sandfall co-founder and shaper François Meurisse reemerged.

Speaking to El País for an nonfiction published successful July, Meurisse said: “We usage immoderate AI, but not much. The cardinal is that we were precise wide astir what we wanted to bash and what to put in. And, of course, exertion has allowed america to bash things that were unthinkable a abbreviated clip ago. Unreal Engine 5’s tools and assets person been precise important successful improving the graphics, gameplay, and cinematics.”

Meurisse’s remark resurfaced amid a backlash to comments from Larian brag Swen Vincke successful the aftermath of the developer’s high-profile announcement of Divinity astatine The Game Awards. The archetypal quality came from a Bloomberg interrogation successful which Vincke said that Larian was "pushing hard" [Bloomberg's phrasing] connected generative AI, adjacent though it hasn't led to large gains successful efficiency. Specifically, the workplace was said to beryllium utilizing the exertion to "explore ideas, soma retired PowerPoint presentations, make conception creation and constitute placeholder text." [again, Bloomberg's phrasing].

Vincke aboriginal addressed the backlash, and has promised an AMA to reply questions from fans. All the while, a airy has been shone connected Clair Obscur, which leads america to the Indie Game Awards.

Clair Obscur had won Game of the Year and Debut Game from the Indie Game Awards, but some awards are present retracted. Explaining the decision, the Indie Game Awards said:

The Indie Game Awards person a hard stance connected the usage of gen AI passim the information process and during the ceremonial itself. When it was submitted for consideration, a typical of Sandfall Interactive agreed that nary gen AI was utilized successful the improvement of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. In airy of Sandfall Interactive confirming the usage of gen AI creation successful accumulation connected the time of the Indie Game Awards 2025 premiere, this does disqualify Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from its nomination. While the assets successful question were patched retired and it is simply a fantastic game, it does spell against the regulations we person successful place. As a result, the IGAs information committee has agreed to officially retract some the Debut Game and Game of the Year awards.

Each grant went to the adjacent highest-ranked crippled successful its respective category; Sorry We’re Closed present has Debut Game, and Blue Prince present has Game of the Year.

Meanwhile, El País has updated its archetypal nonfiction to see a connection from Sandfall clarifying its usage of generative AI successful the making of Clair Obscur:

The workplace states that it was successful interaction with El País connected April 25 — 3 months anterior to this publication. During these exchanges, Sandfall Interactive indicated that it had utilized a constricted fig of pre-existing assets, notably 3D assets sourced from the Unreal Engine Marketplace. None of these assets were created utilizing artificial intelligence.Sandfall Interactive further clarifies that determination are nary generative Al-created assets successful the game. When the archetypal Al tools became disposable successful 2022, immoderate members of the squad concisely experimented with them to make impermanent placeholder textures. Upon release, instances of a placeholder texture were removed wrong 5 days to beryllium replaced with the close textures that had ever been intended for release, but were missed during the Quality Assurance process.

And here’s Vincke's latest connection successful full:

It’s been a week since we announced Divinity, our adjacent RPG, and a batch has go mislaid successful translation.Larian’s DNA is agency. Everything we enactment towards is to the payment of our teams, games, and players. A amended enactment day, and a amended game. Our successes travel from empowering radical to enactment successful their ain mode and bring the champion retired of their accomplishment & craft, truthful that we tin marque the champion RPGs we tin perchance make.In that context, it would beryllium irresponsible for america not to measure caller technologies. However, our processes are ever evolving, and wherever they are not businesslike oregon neglect to align with who we are, we volition marque changes.To springiness you much insight, we’ll bash an AMA featuring our antithetic departments aft the vacation break, successful which you’ll get the accidental to inquire america immoderate questions you person astir Divinity and our dev process directly.We’ll denote the day successful the caller year. In the meantime, I privation you each blessed holidays!

Excellent, the AI generated textures successful Clair Obscur were so placeholders and were replaced with customized assets. The different AI generated poster that was contiguous successful the starting country (don't person a screenshot of it now) was besides removed. https://t.co/UQbfLuyj8e pic.twitter.com/5xgqsCmZpC

— Nyanomancer (@nyanomancer) April 30, 2025

The usage of generative AI successful video crippled improvement is 1 of the hottest topics successful the industry. Last month, we reported that Assassin's Creed steadfast Ubisoft was forced to region an representation recovered wrong Anno 117: Pax Romana that contained AI-generated elements aft fans complained, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 players took to societal media to kick astir AI-generated images they had recovered crossed the game, pursuing a inclination of AI-Ghibli images from earlier this year.

The Alters developer, 11 Bit Studios, and Jurassic World Evolution 3 developer, Frontier Developments, meanwhile, likewise faced instrumentality backlash erstwhile they were caught utilizing undisclosed AI images. EA CEO Andrew Wilson has said AI is "the precise halfway of our business," and Square Enix precocious implemented wide layoffs and reorganized, saying it needed to beryllium "aggressive successful applying AI." Dead Space creator Glen Schofield besides precocious elaborate his plans to “fix” the manufacture successful portion via the usage of generative AI successful crippled development, and erstwhile God of War dev Meghan Morgan Juinio has said: "... if we don’t clasp [AI], I deliberation we’re selling ourselves short.”

As the statement astir the usage of generative AI to physique video games rages on, Tim Sweeney, brag of Fortnite developer Epic Games, has waded successful to telephone connected Valve to ditch its AI Generated Content Disclosure for Steam games.

Valve’s rules mean developers indispensable disclose their usage of AI-generated contented connected a game’s Steam store page. For example, the Steam leafage for Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders includes a enactment from the developer connected however the crippled uses AI-generated content: “during the improvement process, we whitethorn usage procedural- and AI-based tools to assistance with contented creation. In each specified cases, the last merchandise reflects the creativity and look of our ain improvement team.”

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].