Clair Obscur Dominates The Game Awards, Claims Nine Awards

Sat Dec 20 2025 12:33:45 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The French RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has made waves at this year's Game Awards, winning nine prestigious categories including Game of the Year.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 achieved a record-breaking nine wins at The Game Awards, including acclaimed categories such as Best Narrative and Best Music. Directed by Guillaume Broche, the French-developed RPG triumphed over strong contenders like Death Stranding 2 and Donkey Kong Bananza. The event also showcased exciting new titles, affirming its status as the 'Oscars of gaming'.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been named game of the year in a record-breaking haul at this year's Game Awards.

The French-developed role-playing game (RPG) cleaned up in nine of the 10 categories it was up for, winning in best narrative, best music, and best performance.

This title fended off competition from notable games such as Death Stranding 2, the Nintendo platformer Donkey Kong Bananza, indie titles Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades 2, and medieval adventure Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 to claim the top prize.

During the ceremony in Los Angeles, attendees were also treated to the first looks at two upcoming Tomb Raider games, a sequel to Control, and a new Star Wars RPG.

Clair Obscur is set in a universe governed by a supernatural entity known as The Paintress, which restricts the populace from maturing past a specific age. The narrative centers around a group of adventurers aiming to vanquish The Paintress, and has been commended for its emotional depth coupled with classic turn-based battle mechanics.

The game's developers, Sandfall Interactive, are former Ubisoft employees who came together to create this project. Accepting the Game of the Year award, director Guillaume Broche—dressed in a red beret and striped t-shirt—acknowledged the year's challenges for the studio and expressed his gratitude toward the 'unsung heroes' of game development, specifically those who create educational content online.

With 12 nominations, Clair Obscur was the most nominated title in the ceremony's history, and it claims victories across several categories including Best Role-Playing Game and Best Independent Game. Its music, composed by Lorien Testard, garnered acclaim, marking the musician's debut in game scoring.

Despite the accolades, Clair Obscur missed out on just two awards: Best Audio Design, which went to Battlefield 6, and the Player's Voice award, won by Wuthering Waves.

This year's Game Awards also faced critiques regarding their approach to awards versus advertising, while making strides to address previous shortcomings, as many developers called for better acknowledgment of industry challenges, including job losses.