‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’ stripped of Indie Game Awards due to generative AI use

The Indie Game Awards have been canceled Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33 of its Game of the Year and First Game awards, citing the use of generative AI in role-playing.

Organized by Six One Indie, the annual Indie Game Awards aim to highlight excellence in independent video game development. Titles are eligible for the Indie Game Awards if their developers are not part of the “traditional publishing system” and were not owned or financially controlled by a major company. These games must also not have used generative AI in their development process, which would make them “strictly ineligible for nomination.”

Unfortunately, it seems that Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33Developer Sandfall Interactive actually used generative AI, disqualifying them from the Indie Game Awards.

“The Indie Game Awards takes a strong stance on the use of AI generation throughout the nomination process and during the ceremony itself,” the Indie Game Awards wrote, announcing their decision over the weekend. “When the project was submitted for review, a Sandfall Interactive representative agreed that no AI generation was used in the development of Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33.

“In light of the fact that Sandfall Interactive confirmed the use of AI-gen art in production on the day of the 2025 Indie Game Awards premiere, this disqualifies Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33 upon his appointment. Even though the assets in question have been repaired and this is a wonderful game, this goes against the regulations we have in place. »

Game of the Year and First Game in the Indie Game Awards will now be awarded to the second highest scoring titles in each respective category. As such, Debut Game is part of the survival horror mode of games Sorry, we are closedwhile the Indie Game Awards’ Game of the Year 2025 is the puzzle adventure game Dogubomb. Blue Prince.

Sandfall Interactive had already revealed its use of AI in an interview given in July to a Spanish newspaper. El Paíswithout however explicitly confirming that the tools used were generative in nature. At the time, Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33Producer François Meurisse simply stated that he used “a bit of AI” in the production of the game.

In a later update of El PaísIn the article, Sandfall Interactive claimed that there are currently no generative AI assets remaining in Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33. However, he confirmed that generative AI was used to create placeholder textures during development, not all of which were removed before release due to oversights in the QA process. Sandfall Interactive says these AI-generated textures were replaced within five days Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33at launch, and were never intended to be included in the final game.

Players have indeed spotted AI-generated textures in Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33 upon its release on April 24, quickly denouncing suspicious posters of the game on social networks. Less than a week later, patch notes for a hotfix noted that the developers had “replaced a placeholder texture with the correct visual element.”

Despite this, the Indie Game Awards were apparently unaware of these events, as they did not discover Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33until December 18, the day the winners are announced.

Reaction to Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33The disqualification from the Indie Game Awards was mixed. While some fans appreciate Price’s strict stance against generative AI, others feel that Sandfall Interactive’s use of the technology to create a few fictional poster elements was relatively minor and should be allowed in this case. Yet the Indie Game Awards criteria requires that no generative AI be used, regardless of the extent of that use.

“Thank you for standing up and speaking out for a more ethical gaming industry,” @erin-hallow wrote on Bluesky. “At a time when authentic human creativity is under threat and big players are perpetuating this problem, it means a lot to see an awards show that truly cares about the authenticity of the games it presents.”

“Considering that only one placeholder element made it into the final version, entirely by mistake, it seems a bit silly, but rules are rules, I guess,” wrote Redditor u/Caridor on the r/expedition33 subreddit. (Note: Technically at least two reserved assets have been spotted, but their sentiment remains.)

Although Sandfall Interactive has not directly commented on the withdrawal of its Indie Game Awards at the time of writing, Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33 still has plenty of other wins to keep him hot. The much-loved French game won the 2025 Game Awards earlier this month, taking home Game of the Year along with eight other trophies. It also won six Golden Joystick Awards, also including Ultimate Game of the Year.

The use of generative AI in game development is a controversial issue. Although some see it as a tool to increase efficiency, many others fear that generative AI will replace true artists, eliminating jobs in an already struggling industry while flooding the market with shoddy, soulless AI.