Indie Recreation Awards pulls two awards from Clair Obscur over generative AI use: 'Now we have a tough stance towards gen AI in videogames'
It has been a hell of an award season for the yr’s most talked about RPG, however two of its accolades simply acquired knocked off the scorecard. The Indie Recreation Awards, which awarded Sandfall Interactive with Recreation of the 12 months and Finest Debut Recreation on Dec 18, posted a video to Bluesky yesterday explaining that the sport is retroactively disqualified for its use of generative AI in growth.
“Now we have a tough stance towards gen AI in videogames, it is one thing we discuss all year long when discussing any potential nominees,” Mike Towndrow of the IGA nomination committee mentioned within the video. “On the day of the premiere, Sandfall Interactive did, in actual fact, affirm that gen AI was used within the making of Expedition 33.” He continues that, beforehand, the studio had agreed “that no gen AI was used within the making of the sport when it was submitted to us for consideration.”
The IGAs Nomination Committee is formally retracting Debut Recreation and Recreation of the 12 months, awarding each classes to new recipients. Moreover, we’re retracting one of many Indie Vanguard recipients.
Full particulars will be present in our FAQ below Recreation Eligibility: www.indiegameawards.gg/faq— @indiegameawards.gg (@indiegameawards.gg.bsky.social) 2025-12-21T15:39:58.924Z
Notably, seemingly AI-generated textures have been noticed by followers on-line in Clair Obscur mere days after it launched in April. The textures highlighted within the screenshot have been quietly eliminated quickly after, referred to in a patch notice as a “placeholder texture.”
In June, an interview in El País noticed Sandfall cofounder François Meurisse admit the studio used “some AI, however not a lot” (Google translated), however the article has been up to date to state that “there isn’t any aspect made with generative AI within the recreation.”
The Indie Recreation Awards’ new winners for Finest Debut Recreation and Recreation of the 12 months are actually Sorry We’re Closed and Blue Prince, respectively.
It will likely be attention-grabbing to see what influence this has shifting ahead. Devs of hotly anticipated RPGs like Divinity have already admitted to utilizing generative AI in growth, and massive studios like Ubisoft are letting it slip into last builds, content material to the touch it up as soon as it is seen.
Whereas there’s an argument available whether or not the decidedly AA Sandfall ought to have been up for an indie award within the first place, it appears clear that AI is the larger sticking level for individuals—not less than inside the Indie Recreation Awards nomination staff.