2025 has been a great year for gaming, from AAA RPGs to incredible indie debuts. Some of the biggest contenders for Game of the Year were Blue Prince, an emotional and moving narrative experience; Sorry We're Closed, a charming indie debut with a lot of heart and smart mechanics; and the surprise title Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
The reactions to the Indie Game Awards 2025 quickly became divisive when Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won Game of the Year and Debut Game. Some praised the game and its ambitious design and world-building, while others pointed out its problematic development process, beginning a discussion about what "indie" means, as well as the role of AI tools in game development.
The Controversial Victory
The Indie Game Awards 2025, which took place on Thursday, originally named Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as the Game of the Year and Debut Game. The announcement was a controversial one from the start, as Clair Obscur has never really been an independent title in the traditional sense of the word, having been published and funded by a third-party publisher with a budget in the six-figure and even potentially seven-figure range.
AI-generated textures later added fuel to the fire, as the game was found to use assets created using artificial intelligence. When it released, players noticed unusual textures in at least one part of the game that seemed to be AI-generated. The developer, Sandfall Interactive, swiftly replaced the assets with textures of their own design behind the scenes in a day, completely removing the AI assets from the game with a patch within five days of release. While some chatter online on X and Reddit made mention of the AI-created assets, the response was much more muted than what 11 Bit Studios had received for their The Alters game, which also used AI-generated backgrounds.
It also left the awarding of any prizes to Clair Obscur up in the air for some, as even these patches did nothing to change the fact that, for some, the mere appearance of these assets at all, regardless of how long they were visible or how quickly they were replaced, marred what was otherwise a fine debut game.
Awards Retracted
Unfortunately, the party didn’t last very long. The Indie Game Awards, scheduled for Saturday, decided to strip Clair Obscur of its awards this week. This decision comes after it was discovered that generative AI assets were part of the initial game at launch. “The representatives of Sandfall Interactive stated that the game did not use AI when the application was submitted for the IGA,” the organization said on its FAQ page. “The use of generative AI art in the original launch of the game, even temporarily, is a breach of the IGA submission rules.” When this was confirmed, the game was no longer considered for awards.
The Indie Game Awards statement continued, “Although the AI elements were quickly removed with a patch, their inclusion in the original game release is in breach of the submission rules.” In the end, Blue Prince was determined to be the new winner of the Game of the Year title, while Sorry We’re Closed will be given the Debut Game award. The speeches from the respective winners will be published at the beginning of 2026.
Developers have been using AI for making textures, backgrounds, and other non-essential game assets for some time now. However, the IGA win and retraction story has now led to a potentially damaging controversy.
