Indie GOTY Award for Expedition 33

The Blue Prince's attic, with sunlight streaming in through the circular windows.

Vaspaan Dastoor is the editor of TheGamer. Previously, I worked at IGN India and was constantly working to get people to make time to participate in the LOTR Marathon. He can be seen giving a heated response to a cold response on @DastoorVaspaan.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won every award this year, including the Indie Game Of The Year Awards. However, the award was revoked within hours of the awards ceremony due to suspicions that AI was used during the development process, and fans are expected to be disappointed. The GOTY title ultimately went to Blue Prince.

As expected, the backlash was quite strong, but The Indie Game Awards stated that it has a “strong stance against the use of Gen AI throughout the nomination process and the awards ceremony itself.” With all of this going on last night, Blue Prince publisher Raw Fury released a statement clarifying that no AI was used during the game's development.

Blue Prince reaffirms that AI was not used during development

Campground and tents with white trees behind Blue Prince.

“For those who need confirmation: no AI was used in Blue Prince,” Raw Fury said. “This game was created and created by Tonda Ros using the best of human instinct. [Dogubomb] & his team. “It is the result of eight years of development driven by imagination and creativity, and we are very proud of what Tonda has achieved.”

In their FAQ, the Indie Game Awards explained how Clair Obscur was initially nominated, and why the award was later rescinded. “When submitted for review, representatives from Sandfall Interactive agreed that Gen AI was not used in the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

The Blue Prince's protagonist wears a crown with a red countdown timer on the back that reads 00:00:00.

relevant

Anyway, Blue Prince makes for one of the most exciting speedruns I've ever seen.

I can't believe this is possible.

“Considering that Sandfall Interactive confirmed the use of AI art in the production on the day of the Indie Game Awards 2025 premiere, we are disqualifying Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from nominations. The assets in question have been patched, and while it is a great game, it is against the rules we enforce. As a result, the IGA Nomination Committee has agreed to officially withdraw both the Debut Game and Game of the Year awards.”