Clair Obscur Expedition 33 stripped of IGA's Game of the Year gong as its generative AI use comes under inspection

It's safe to say Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been this year's biggest winner, sweeping awards shows across the board including a record number of victories at The Game Awards 2025. But the Indie Game Awards has just retracted the two prizes it had given Sandfall Interactive's surrealist RPG, following renewed discussions around the studio's use of generative AI tools during the development process. Both the Debut Game and overall Game of the Year awards have now been given to new recipients in its place.

Mike Towndrow of Six One Indie, which runs The Indie Game Awards, confirms in a video on Bluesky that the IGA Nomination Committee has made the decision to strip the two gongs from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. "As you know, we have a hard stance against gen-AI in videogames, and it's something we talk about throughout the year when discussing any potential nominees," he says. "On the day of the premiere [for the show], Sandfall Interactive did in fact confirm that gen-AI was used in the making of Expedition 33."

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- The Indie Game Awards (@indiegameawards.gg) 20 December 2025 at 18:45

Towndrow says it was previously agreed during the submission process that no generative AI had been used during Expedition 33's development. "Unfortunately, that's not the case. That clearly goes against the regulations we have in place and disqualifies it from nomination." The contest's eligibility rules state that "games developed using generative AI are strictly ineligible for nomination."

With Expedition 33 removed from the listing, the Game of the Year award has been handed to former runner-up Blue Prince (a worthy choice in my book, coming second only to Silksong in my personal estimations), while Debut Game goes to Sorry We're Closed. Both can now be seen alongside the other winners on the IGA website.

The AI discussion was recently rekindled amid comments from Larian CEO Swen Vincke about the use of gen-AI tools in the production of its upcoming RPG, Divinity. Sandfall has admitted that a small amount of generative AI was used during Expedition 33's development, and a handful of in-game assets that were flagged at launch by players as looking to be AI-generated were replaced in an early patch.

Sandfall's wins at the IGAs had already been controversial due to Expedition 33's big-budget nature going against the 'spirit' of the celebration, although it also took home Best Indie Game and Best Debut Indie Game at The Game Awards. If you're curious to hear some acceptance speeches from the new winners, Towndrow says both Dogubomb and A La Mode Games have been invited to record one, but that you can expect them after the holidays.