The Indie Game Awards has revoked all titles Sandfall Interactive received for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 this year, establishing a firm stance against generative AI content.
The event, which took place on Dec. 18, had previously named Expedition 33 both “Game of the Year” and “Best Debut Game.” However, amid recent outrage over Larian Studios’ use of AI for its upcoming title, journalist Gene Park resurfaced an old interview quote from Expedition 33 producer François Meurisse confirming that AI was used during development.
Park pointed out the irony of how Sandfall Interactive has dominated across multiple award shows this year, including winning multiple “Game of the Year” titles—and the community naturally picked up the conversation.
Eventually, The Indie Game Awards announced in a statement that it has retracted both awards that went to Expedition 33. “The Indie Game Awards have a hard stance on the use of gen AI throughout the nomination process and during the ceremony itself,” the statement establishes. The organizers also explained the confusion was due to contracting statements from Sandfall Interactive and that the interview which surfaced recently became the verdict.
“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 statement reveals, before acknowledging bits from the old interview. “While the assets in question were patched out and it is a wonderful game, it does go against the regulations we have in place.”
The awards went to the next highest-ranked game in its respective category, so Blue Prince for Game of the Year and Sorry We’re Closed for Debut Game.
Expedition 33 isn’t the only game that was hit
The Indie Game Awards had initially recognized Chantey by Gortyn Code as the Indie Vanguard winner. The game had gained attention through itch.io’s Game Boy Competition 2023 and its physical cartridge release via ModRetro. However, the show later retracted the Indie Vanguard selection due to ModRetro’s values conflicting with its rules.
ModRetro is owned by Palmer Luckey, the billionaire founder of Oculus and CEO of Anduril Industries, an arms and defense technology company. “The IGAs nomination committee were unfortunately made aware of ModRetro’s nature and principles the day after the 2025 premiere with the news of their upcoming handheld console,” the show’s statement reads. “As the company strictly goes against the values of the IGAs. Due to the ties with ModRetro, Indie Vanguard has also been retracted as we do not want to provide the company with a platform.”
That said, the decision does not reflect on Gortyn Code or Chantey’s quality, which continues to be praised as an excellent modern throwback to the Game Boy era. Fans can still support Code via itch.io.
