Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins GOTY, Dominates 'The Game Awards 2025'

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 truly dominated the stage at The Game Awards 2025. Out of twelve nominations, the game took home nine awards, a new record in the event's history.

These wins demonstrate the overall quality of this RPG, from its direction to its strong narrative. Critics and players alike recognized its excellence.

The list of awards it won was impressive, including Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, and Best Narrative.

Additionally, the game was recognized in the categories of Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, as well as Best Independent Game and Best Debut Indie Game.

It also won the Best RPG award, cementing its position as one of the best role-playing games of the year.

Furthermore, one of the main voice actors, Jennifer English, was also awarded Best Performance for her role as Maelle, adding to the game's long list of achievements.

Despite this, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 only lost in two categories for which it was nominated: Best Audio Design, which went to Battlefield 6, and Players' Voice, which went to Wuthering Waves.

Reception to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was overwhelmingly positive, earning universal acclaim from game critics.

They praised its immersive narrative, stunning art direction, innovative game direction, beautiful original soundtrack, addictive gameplay, and outstanding voice acting.

As reported by Polygon, Clair Obscur's win was expected, as the game was a strong favorite for this year's awards.

Before the awards ceremony, prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket estimated its chances of winning Game of the Year at 93% and 96%, respectively.

As of October 2025, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 had sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

As a token of appreciation for the support and Game of the Year win, the developer released a free content update.

This update includes an exciting new location, an additional end-game boss, new character costumes, and expanded language support.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a role-playing game (RPG) featuring a unique genre, featuring a turn-based combat system combined with real-time elements.

Developed by Sandfall Interactive using Unreal Engine 5, the game delivers stunning visuals and performance, where players will enjoy an immersive single-player experience set in a dark fantasy world.

The game's story is inspired by the French Belle Époque era.

Players will lead members of Expedition 33 on a crucial mission to defeat "The Paintress," a mysterious entity annually paints a cursed number on a monolith, causing everyone aged or older to vanish into smoke.

The development project for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began in 2019 by Guillaume Broche, a former Ubisoft employee who later founded Sandfall Interactive.

The core team of approximately 30 people was inspired by classic JRPGs like the Final Fantasy and Persona series.

Professional voice actors like Charlie Cox, Andy Serkis, and Ben Starr enrich the experience, with Jennifer English winning the Best Performance award for her role as Maelle.