After Game of the Year pull, Expedition 33 devs swear off future AI use

The gaming world appeared ablaze after the Indie Game Awards announced that it was rescinding the top honors awarded to RPG darling Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 due to the use of generative AI during development. Sandfall Interactive recently sat down with a group of influencers for a private interview session, where the French studio was probed about recent AI controversies. Game director Guillaume Broche clarified some of the misinformation surrounding the studio and reiterated what other Sandfall developers have said about generative AI usage during interviews held earlier in the year.

Transcription of the Q&A comes courtesy of gaming content creator Sushi, who was one of the handful of influencers who were present at the session. Twitch streamer crizco prefaced his question by recounting the storm surrounding Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios’ admission about using generative AI during game development.

“To what extent was generative AI used in Clair Obscur, how was it beneficial, and how do you plan to use it in the future?” crizco inquired.

“Everything in the game is human-made,” Broche responded, “When AI first came out in 2022, we’d already started on the game. It was just a new tool, we tried it, and we didn’t like it at all. It felt wrong.”

Broche went on to note that the studio did experiment with using AI specifically to cover up textures that the studio had missed, but that it was an extremely brief dalliance. “We took it out as soon as we found it,” Broche said. “But yeah, the concept art, voice actors, everything is human made.”

Broche then drew a line in the sand. He mused that it would be hard to predict how AI might be used in the gaming industry in the future, and declared, “But everything will be made by humans, by us.”

The Indie Game Awards, however, has stood by its decision to retract the GOTY award from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. A FAQ page on the award’s website states that, because Sandfall Interactive has confirmed it used AI during production at all, “this does disqualify Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from its nomination.”

Part of what’s fanned the flames surrounding an otherwise niche award show is that Sandfall Interactive has not been furtive about how it used AI in the first place. Interviews conducted earlier in 2025 saw other Sandfall Interactive developers openly discussing their attempt at using AI-generated placeholder art. Once the game was released, some players noticed textures that appeared to be AI-generated. However, these assets were limited to one specific object in a game full of countless assets. Sandfall Interactive has not responded to Polygon’s request for comment, but the immediate patching of those assets coupled with previous statements make it sound like it was an oversight tying back to when the studio was merely checking the technology out.

Arguably, trying the tech at all still crosses a moral threshold for people who strongly feel that AI generated assets have no place in the creation of art. But like many industries, gaming studios are being pushed by leadership to explore AI technology regardless of how its workers might feel about it. Some studios, like Larian, have used AI technology to produce slide presentations and draft concept art — yet the technology does not appear to lead or dictate the direction of their games. Things get murkier when you consider what does and does not qualify as “bad” AI usage.

In the case of Indie Game Awards, the decision to retract Clair Obscur‘s decorations has been explained as a consequence of dishonesty.

“When it was submitted for consideration, a representative of Sandfall Interactive agreed that no gen AI was used in the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33,” the FAQ reads.

“As gen AI becomes more prevalent in our industry, we will better navigate it appropriately,” the FAQ continues. “The organizational team behind the ceremony is a small crew with big ambitions, and The Indie Game Awards can only grow with your help and support.”