The 2025 Game Awards delivered a decisive and historic result Thursday night as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 emerged as the industry’s clear standout, claiming Game of the Year and cementing one of the most dominant performances the event has ever seen.
Held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, the 12th annual Game Awards saw Sandfall Interactive’s debut title not only secure the ceremony’s top honor, but walk away with nine total awards after entering the night with a record-breaking 12 nominations.
A screenshot from the trailer to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – YouTube, IGN
The result firmly places Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 at the center of this year’s awards conversation and marks a major moment for independent studios.
A Breakout Victory at The Game Awards
Published by Kepler Interactive, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 claimed victories across nearly every major creative category. In addition to Game of the Year, the title won Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best RPG, illustrating the breadth of its appeal with voters.
A screenshot from the trailer to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – YouTube, IGN
The game’s music and performances were also recognized. Composer Lorien Testard won Best Score and Music, while Jennifer English received Best Performance for her role as Maelle, further solidifying the title’s critical reception across storytelling, audio, and character work.
By the end of the night, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 had secured nine awards, tying it among the most successful titles in Game Awards history.
A Rare Indie Sweep on a Global Stage
The scale of Clair Obscur’s success stands out not only because of its awards haul, but because it came from a first-time studio competing against major, long-established franchises. The game’s nomination count alone set a new benchmark for the event, and its conversion rate on wins turned what could have been a crowded awards field into a largely one-sided showcase.
A screenshot from the trailer to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – YouTube, IGN
While many years see Game of the Year split from category wins, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 managed to dominate both technical and artistic categories, signaling a strong consensus among jurors rather than a narrow victory.
Other Notable Winners
While Clair Obscur led the night, several other high-profile games and projects were recognized. Hades II took home Best Action Game, while Hollow Knight: Silksong won Best Action/Adventure. No Man’s Sky continued its long-running resurgence by winning Best Ongoing Game, and The Last of Us Season 2 secured Best Adaptation.
A screenshot of Bella Ramsey as Ellie in The Last of Us HBO Series – HBO Max
The ceremony also highlighted future industry anticipation, with Grand Theft Auto VI earning Most Anticipated Game (and if it gets pushed back any more we might see it win the same award at next year’s Game Awards).
A Landmark Moment for the Game Awards
Beyond the trophies, the 2025 Game Awards leaned heavily into major reveals and industry announcements, with studios unveiling upcoming titles tied to franchises like Star Wars, Tomb Raider, and Resident Evil. However, despite the spectacle and star power, the night ultimately belonged to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
The game’s sweep represents one of the clearest statements the awards have made in recent years — that originality, cohesive artistic vision, and strong narrative execution can still outperform sheer brand recognition.
A screenshot from the trailer to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 showing off the game’s combat – YouTube, IGN
As the dust settles from this year’s ceremony, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will likely be remembered not just as the Game of the Year winner, but as the title that turned the 2025 Game Awards into a defining showcase for what a debut studio can accomplish when every element comes together.
Are you surprised that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 dominated The Game Awards? Sound off on social media and let us know!
Good for Expedition 33, but The Game Awards are a joke and it needs to be abolished.
All award shows are a bunch of backslappers deciding which of the other backslappers win. But they knew not even they could gate keep to an extent that should Expedition 33 out.
Like in grade school playing the “7 up” game where you close your eyes and people come and tap you or lower your upraised thumb to select you to be in the next group that gets to pick. Friends always picked friends, leading to a circle jerk status and group selection. Outsiders need not apply unless it’s the new kid everyone wants to curry favor with.
That Expedition 33 won so many other awards doesn’t necessarily mean E33 is the bestest ever (though it is one of the most excellent games from the last year) but says more about the utterly pathetic mainstream slop it was competing against.
Given how corrupt the game awards are, that this game still crushed the AAA competition is mind-blowing. That is a testament to just how terrible AAA games are.
Why terrible? Because DEI and woke narratives.
I believe Lune and the girl Sciel who are two of the three Female MCs are Gay, or have the option.
I’ve heard all three can be Gay, but I’m obviously not going to play this trash to find out.
Somehow I knew all of this just by finding out this game was made by the French.
TPP is deleting Comments. I even made a new Account since they Shadow Banned my old one.
TPP is Woke now…………
I’ve also noticed some comments of mine have been deleted, even though there was nothing problematic in them. I wouldn’t go as far to say TPP it’s woke, but there’s definitely at least one mod who deletes comments, he doesn’t like.
The other account I had was censored by not just one Mod.
I would comment on that Account and it would say “awaiting Moderator Approval” or something. I said nothing “offensive” a few times, and it was still not approved.
So it’s MANY Mods who are Woke, not just one.
Yep, I did notice too that your comment right here on this very article that even I was replying to is gone (taking away my comment at the same time too). I thought that you deleted it or something.
Interesting, that explains why I couldn’t find some of my older comments when I looked back at some of the earlier articles a few months ago.
There isn’t any place on the internet that actually allows anyone to say anything, so I’m never surprised when the boot comes down, especially when someone says the obvious truth and it goes against the standard programming. I’d at least have more respect for the people behind it if they weren’t all hacks using AI to create articles with the same terrible format everyday. At least Marvin finally wised up a little and decided to make it less obvious and removed the bullet points at the end of every article.