Key Highlights:
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won a record nine awards at The Game Awards 2025, including GOTY.
- The win breaks the previous record held by The Last of Us Part II and caps a breakout year for Sandfall Interactive.
- Director Guillaume Broche used the GOTY stage to thank YouTube tutorial creators and confirm a free content update for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has just delivered one of the most dominant performances in The Game Awards’ history, winning nine trophies at the 2025 ceremony and taking home the night’s biggest prize: Game of the Year.
The total surpasses the long-standing record of seven wins set by The Last of Us Part II back in 2020, instantly placing Sandfall Interactive’s debut title into awards-show history. Alongside Game of the Year, Clair Obscur also claimed Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Performance, Best RPG, Best Independent Game, and Best Debut Game.
The only category it missed despite being nominated was Best Audio Design, which went to Battlefield 6.
From an industry perspective, this sweep was not entirely unexpected. Clair Obscur entered the night as a heavy favourite, with prediction markets placing its chances of winning Game of the Year well above 90 percent. Even so, the scale of the victory is remarkable given where the project started.
Earlier this year, Sandfall Interactive was largely unknown, and publisher Kepler Interactive was still best recognised for smaller, left-field successes such as Sifu and Pacific Drive. I remember early conversations around Clair Obscur framing it as a stylish curiosity rather than a serious awards contender. That narrative shifted quickly once critics got their hands on it.
Released in April, the cinematic, story-forward RPG drew widespread critical acclaim, and its inclusion in Microsoft’s Game Pass lineup gave it a level of exposure most debut studios never enjoy. In a relatively quiet year for blockbuster releases following the delay of Grand Theft Auto 6, Clair Obscur filled a gap perfectly suited to The Game Awards’ tastes.
It also overcame stiff competition. Nominees included Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Ghost of Yōtei, Donkey Kong Bananza, Hades II, and Hollow Knight: Silksong. Despite that lineup, the jury vote never really felt in doubt.
The night’s most memorable moment came during the Game of the Year acceptance speech. Game director Guillaume Broche delivered an emotional thank-you that extended beyond his team and publisher, calling YouTube tutorial creators “the unsung heroes of this industry”.
Broche credited online tutorials with helping the team learn how to make games in the first place, a refreshingly candid admission on one of the industry’s biggest stages.
Broche also paid tribute to legendary designer Hironobu Sakaguchi, citing his work on Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger as a major personal inspiration. It was a rare moment of humility during an awards show often dominated by spectacle.
To cap things off, Broche confirmed that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has received a free update following its historic win. The update introduces new weapons, quests, buffs, and additional content, fulfilling a promise made to players during development.
For a debut studio to walk away with Game of the Year is impressive. To do it while rewriting the awards record book is something else entirely.