Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is now the most nominated game in The Game Awards history
It’s been a big year for indie game studio Sandfall Interactive, as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has racked up twelve nominations at The Game Awards 2025, becoming the most-nominated title in the event’s twelve-year history.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was released in April 2025 and achieved outright universal acclaim. The game received a 100% player approval rating and a 97% critic rating out of 196 reviews on Opencritic.
The game is now dubbed a Metacritic Must-Play, with a Metascore of 92 based on 84 critic reviews and an exceptional 9.6/10 score based on almost 22,000 player reviews.
Expedition 33 is currently a frontrunner at The Game Awards, with nominations spanning an impressive array of categories. It’s presently contending for Game of the Year alongside Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, recent indie hits of 2025, including Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades 2, Nintendo Switch 2’s Donkey Kong: Bonanza, and Warhorse Studios' simulation-heavy Kingdom Come: Deliverance II.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is also setting its sights on accolades such as Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Audio Design, Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Narrative.
The game has claimed three spots for Best Performances, owing to impeccable acting by Ben Starr for his role as Verso, Charlie Cox as Gustave, and Jennifer English as Maelle.
Upon the announcement, Sandfall Interactive developers could barely contain their excitement as they took to X, stating:
What a privilege to be nominated, not only for 2025 GAME OF THE YEAR, but also TWELVE??!! TOTAL NOMINATIONS. There are so many precious deserving games from this year, and to be nominated among them makes us SO SO very whee… THANK YOU!!
It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Sandfall Interactive to come out of nowhere and breathe new life into the JRPG formula with Expedition 33. Yet, the competition is not coming in slowly; Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2 each boast seven nominations, followed by Hades 2 with six, Hollow Knight: Silksong with five, and Split Fiction with four.
The Game Awards 2025 opening ceremony is slated to air on December 11 at 7:30 PM EST at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles. 2025 has been a big year for gaming, with Clair: Obscur: Expedition 33 leading the charge.
No comments for this article
