tldr: they said during the application process that no gen ai was used. Since they lied, the Indie Game Awards pulled their GOTY
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launched with what some suspected to be AI-generated textures that, as it clarified to El País, were then replaced with custom assets in a swift patch five days after release.
Fuck using Gen AI to replace human-made art, and fair enough for pulling the award, but I do think it’s worth making it clear exactly how much of the art is/was AI. And the answer is, very little at launch and none currently.
I think the issue is much more that they lied on the application
This is most of it, but it is worth remembering that using GenAI/LLMs for placeholders is still bad. It’s strictly unnecessary, has dubious efficiency gains at best, and you’re still using tech that is provably hurting people and the environment en masse.
I’m not going to hate Sandfall forever for this – it’s not original sin – but it’s still a very real error they should not repeat.
Agreed, it’s still one of my favorite games this year. Any placeholder that isn’t an obvious placeholder has a chance to make it though
Meh. Gotta throw a bone to the other games this year I guess
What a mistake. Best game is best game. A few background assets that were replaced days after launch.
I can see what you mean, it could’ve easily slipped through the cracks. I feel like the Indie Game Awards (much smaller than the regular Game Awards) should’ve had to do it on principle since genai is a disqualification
GOTY not going to the only game to break the store or payment processor of steam, Xbox, psn, and Nintendo already made the whole thing seem silly
Server load is not a great indicator of how good a game is.
Silksong is an excellent game but it’s absolutely not in the same league. COE33 is a much more sophisticated game with deeper story and advanced artwork.
Silksong was 1/3 the price so they could sell many more copies, and COE33 didn’t have nearly the same hype on launch. None of that makes Silksong a better game.
IMHO fart sniffing pick and the only person I know who will play it is a persona fan.
The description and trailers don’t seem revolutionary or mind blowing. Just a pretty turn based with a story that EA or Ubisoft didn’t half ass. BF6 just went on sale for $40 from $70 and is the best selling game of the year.
The whole thing feels very token and fake
So you didn’t play it, and yet your opinion is more important that that of those who did. Got it.
e33 is a fantastic game and is well worth your time
The fact that Silksong did that is insane to me, there was so much hype
It’s game of the year, not hype of the year
It’s a turn based.
So are chess, Magic The Gathering, and Dungeons and Dragons. What’s your point?
Agreed. As much as I don’t care about Silksong either way, having “so many people wanted me, I broke the storefront” on your resume has to count for something.
