Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Stripped of All Indie Game Awards Due to AI

The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was embroiled in a high-profile controversy at the 2025 Indie Game Awards. The awards organizers decided to rescind the project's awards, including the "Game of the Year" and "Best Debut" titles, citing a violation of the rules prohibiting the use of generative neural networks during development.

As IGA representatives explained, the jury initially rated the game highly, but the key factor was not the project's artistic merit, but the violation of the rules. Before the ceremony, the developers assured the committee that generative AI had not been used in asset creation. On the day of the awards ceremony, the studio acknowledged that some content had been created using neural networks.

Even the subsequent removal of the controversial materials did not affect the final decision, as the organizers considered the provision of false information a separate and serious violation. As a result, the Best Debut award was given to Sorry We're Closed, and the Game of the Year title went to Blue Prince.

The Indie Game Awards administration stated that following the incident, it plans to tighten project review procedures and revise the rules to prevent similar situations in the future.