Clair Obscur Expedition 33 AI controversy explained: Does Game of the Year 2025 use Generative AI?

Clair Obscur Expedition 33 has been in the news recently after it smashed records and won nine awards in this year's Game Awards. However, the GOTY has landed in hot water after the team was accused of using AI in the game, resulting in prompt disqualification from the Indie Game Awards. This resulted in widespread speculation and discussion over the creative process of the award-winning title.

Here's a deep dive into the Clair Obscur Expedition 33 controversy and how Sandfall Interactive used AI in certain segments of development.

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Clair Obscur Expedition 33 controversy: Developers confirm that AI-generated asset was shipped at launch

The GOTY title has been under fire for its use of AI assets (Image via Steam/Sandfall Interactive)

Clair Obscur Expedition 33 created history when they won a record nine awards at The Game Awards, including Game of The Year. The RPG title by indie studio Sandfall Interactive gained massive popularity due to its engaging story and visuals, attracting millions of players worldwide.

However, Clair Obscur Expedition 33 has landed in hot water after it was disqualified from the Indie Game Awards over its usage of AI in the game. So, did Sandfall Interactive use AI in this popular title? The answer is Yes. However, there is more to the story than simply stating that the developers used AI.

In an interview with El País for an article published in July, Sandfall Interactive co-founder and producer François Meurisse acknowledged the usage of AI. He went on to state:

"We use some AI, but not much”

Following the recent controversy over the Indie Game Awards, Sandfall Interactive got in touch with El País and provided further context. The developers stated that when AI tools became available in 2022, some members of the development team had experimented with them to generate temporary placeholder textures. During release, one of these AI-generated placeholders had remained.

This can be corroborated from the 1.2.2 Hotfix, which lists this particular change:

Replaced a placeholder texture with the correct visual asset

This essentially confirms that upon release, an AI-generated asset was present in Clair Obscur Expedition 33. The hotfix was promptly released five days later, and the AI-generated placeholder was replaced by the real asset. The developers state that they intended to replace it before release, but it was missed during the Quality Assurance process.

While it is not entirely wrong to say that Expedition 33 did have a piece of AI-generated content during release, it was removed in a hotfix five days after release. As of the current build, the developers have assured that there is no AI-generated content in the game.

However, this was enough for the jury of the Indie Game Awards to rescind the awards and strip Clair Obscur Expedition 33 of both its Game of the Year and Debut Game awards, citing the use of generative AI.

Mike from Indie Game Awards posted an update on the social media platform Bluesky, confirming the news. He stated:

"The Indie Game Awards have a hard stance against the use of gen AI in videogames"

The representative further stated that on the day of the premiere, Sandfall Interactive had confirmed the usage of generative AI in the making of Clair Obscur Expedition 33. They further stated that this information comes despite the developer's confirmation that no AI was used in the development of the game. As a result, the title was stripped of its awards.

After the retraction, the Debut Game was offered to Sorry We Are Closed, while Blue Prince bagged the Game of the Year award. This controversy arises during a time when the majority of professionals in gaming, film, and other industries are boycotting the usage of Artificial Intelligence in creative works.

As of the latest update, Sandfall Interactive has not made any comment regarding this incident.

Also read: How to defeat Monsieur Frappe in Clair Obscur Expedition 33

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Check out some more articles:

• How to defeat Chromatic Lampmaster in Clair Obscur Expedition 33: Builds, setups, and more
• All new bosses in Clair Obscur Expedition 33 (Verso's Drafts)
• All new weapons in Expedition 33 DLC and how to get them
• How to complete the Diving Board minigame in COE 33

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Edited by Sayendra Basu