For most of this year, gamers online were behind “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33,” championing the title all the way to the top of critics’ lists along with the Game of the Year award.
Some loved it for the game itself, which was acclaimed for its visuals and storytelling among other aspects, even as the turn-based RPG style has proven a non-starter for some. Others warmed to its underdog status – here was a small French developer putting out work that could compete on the same level as some AAA titles – filling in a hole left by larger studios all chasing the live-service dream.
The past week or so has seen an unexpected mild reversal of fortune as controversy erupted. Two days after winning big at the Indie Game Awards this past Thursday (a week after the main The Game Awards), the title was stripped of its Indie Game Awards trophies and officially disqualified – over AI. Game of the Year was subsequently awarded to “Blue Prince”.
According to The India Times, the rules of the Indie Awards were that “any use of generative AI, regardless of scale or timing, violates eligibility rules”. That includes its use at any stage of development.
Developer Sandfall Interactive had stated in the past that while the final version of the game contained no AI-generated assets or content, one of the company’s co-founders had indicated that “limited AI tools had been used very early in development to speed up experimentation”.
This led to larger arguments in the past few days about ethics in game development and the harshness of the verdict of the Indie Game Awards. Supporters of the game have called it ‘unjust’, while others say the awards group Six One Indie was within its rights.
Sandfall subsequently issued a statement (via Reddit) clarifying its use of AI, confirming that AI was briefly experimented with to “generate temporary placeholder textures”. Some of those textures did show up in the final game as they had been missed during the Quality Assurance process – those were removed and replaced within five days with the correct textures.
Some outlets suggested “Blue Prince” used generative AI too, a claim quickly shot down by that developer who stated categorically no AI was used in the title.
Meanwhile, the debate has continued online about how much AI is used in gaming pipelines, where the line should be drawn, whether the ends in this case (ie. a great game) justify the means, and the overall sentiment toward “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” which still seems very positive overall.
