Was not aware those two were trained fairly. Sadly I didn’t see anything on what AI tool they used so not sure how that would affect things.

Hadn’t thought of it that way. Good point.

Because so many people are blowing up without reading the article. They were not disqualified for having AI in the game, they were disqualified for not disclosing AI had been used in development.

“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 reads. “When it was submitted for consideration, representatives of Sandfall Interactive agreed that no gen AI was used in the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. “In light of Sandfall Interactive confirming the use of gen AI on the day of the Indie Game Awards 2025 premiere, this does disqualify Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from its nomination.”

Additionally, here is another article where they are clarifying HOW it was used.

…elpais.com/…/the-low-cost-creative-revolution-ho…

Following the publication of this article, Sandfall Interactive wishes to provide the following clarifications. The studio states that it was in contact with El País on April 25 - three months prior to this publication. During these exchanges, Sandfall Interactive indicated that it had used a limited number of pre-existing assets, notably 3D assets sourced from the Unreal Engine Marketplace. None of these assets were created using artificial intelligence. Sandfall Interactive further clarifies that there are no generative Al-created assets in the game. When the first Al tools became available in 2022, some members of the team briefly experimented with them to generate temporary placeholder textures. Upon release, instances of a placeholder texture were removed within 5 days to be replaced with the correct textures that had always been intended for release, but were missed during the Quality Assurance process.

TL;DR: They experimented with Generative AI when it first came out, used some of the results as temporary assets that were always intended to be temporary. They still got in to the final product because QA missed them, which was promptly fixed in a patch. Indie Game Awards disqualified them for failing to disclose this in the first place.

Key takeaways:

• AI didn’t steal anyone’s job in this instance. It was simply used as a tool to help make an artists job easier.
• It was never meant to be a part of the final product, and currently isn’t.
• They used generative AI around when it when it first came out, probably before most people started realizing it was being trained off stolen artwork as well as a lot of the other problems with AI.

Make of that what you will. I personally think this is being blown out of proportion. They made a mistake and have openly corrected themselves. Good for them.

Am I the only one who reflexively pronounces it “soo-doh” instead of “soo-doo”?

I had to do a double take because I thought the lady had a beard.

Made entirely of whale.

Easy - I wouldn’t. Especially since it would just be an empty room.

Can confirm. Clean these out all the time. about 75%-80% of the time this is the cause of this exact issue.

I find a mix of heat and isopropyl alcohol works best to remove adhered batteries. I would say using a heating pad is a safer option than a heat gun in most cases (if set to about 72-76 degrees Fahrenheit, for about 10-15 minutes). Usually you lay the device face down (never put it on where the battery is directly touching the heating pad, too much heat can cause the battery to catch fire or explode) to loosen up the adhesive. All that being said I’m not sure how well it would work with the steam deck though since the control sticks make it hard to lay down flat, plus I don’t know how the heat will affect the screen (most devices like phones are usually fine as long as it’s not too hot and not too long).

If the battery is expanding you should probably not use heat and just isopropyl alcohol as inflating batteries are more at risk to catch fire or explode. If you can’t, or don’t want to use heat then you can just use the alcohol to slowly pick away at it, but it’s going to require more patience and take longer. Also you’re more likely to tear up the plastic card you’re using to get the battery out.

The iFixit Guide to replace the battery on an Steam Deck (OLED)

TL;DR: Mostly screws, but the battery itself is adhered in with several adhesive strips. Be careful if you follow this guide at home as using too much heat can damage the device.