The Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Team Explains Its Use of AI After the Controversy

The use of generative AI in video game development has become one of the main topics of debate. After Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was excluded from the Indie Game Awards, the Sandfall team explained how they used this technology and what their plans are for the future.

After initially winning the Game of the Year award and other titles, the Indie Game Awards disqualified Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 when it was revealed that the developers had used generative AI — and that some AI-generated content remained in the final version of the game.

The director, Guillaume Broche, addressed the issue during an interview published by YouTuber Sushi, giving a clearer explanation on the matter.

No AI-Generated Content Will Be in the Final Version

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

The team used AI-generated elements only as placeholders — temporary assets to be replaced later. In some cases, these were missing textures that had been quickly created with AI but were later removed before the game’s final release.

“But yeah, the concept art, voice actors, everything is humanmade,” Broche clarified. He explained that AI was used only during development to speed up certain parts of production.

Looking ahead, Broche promised that Sandfall’s next games will be released without any AI-generated content. “It’s pretty hard to predict what the future of the industry will look like,” he said, “but everything will be made by humans from us.”

As we have seen, small amounts of AI-generated content have also been found in other titles such as ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6.