Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to sweep awards season. Sandfall Interactive’s dark fantasy RPG took home five awards at the 26th annual Game Developers Choice Awards tonight, including Game of the Year. The game also won Best Debut, Best Visual Art, Best Narrative, and Best Audio, making it the clear standout of the ceremony. I reviewed Expedition 33 last year, and it’s been incredible watching a debut studio from France put together one of the most critically acclaimed RPGs in recent memory.
The GDCA is a peer-voted awards show, meaning winners are selected by developers within the industry through the International Choice Awards Network (ICAN). That makes its Game of the Year recognition a little different from something like The Game Awards, where Expedition 33 also took home the top prize. For a studio’s first game to win both is a remarkable achievement.
Blue Prince, the puzzle adventure from Dogubomb and Raw Fury, was the other multi-award winner of the night, taking home Innovation and Best Design. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach won Best Technology, while Consume Me by Jenny Jiao Hsia won the Social Impact award. The Audience Award, which is selected through a public vote, went to and Roger from TearyHand Studio and Kodansha.
The ceremony also honored two influential industry figures. Don Daglow received the Lifetime Achievement Award for a career spanning over 55 years and more than 100 games. His list of firsts is impressive: the first baseball game (BASBAL, 1971), the first RTS or sim game (Utopia, 1981), and the first graphical MMORPG (Neverwinter Nights on AOL, 1991-1997). The Ambassador Award was given posthumously to Rebecca Ann Heineman (1963-2025), co-founder of Interplay Productions, who contributed to over 250 games across a 45-year career. She made history in 1980 by winning the first National Space Invaders Championship, becoming the inaugural U.S. video game tournament champion.
Best Audio
- Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Rift of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Games / Klei Publishing)
- South of Midnight (Compulsion Games / Xbox Game Studios)
Best Debut
- Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
- BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital)
- Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
- Dispatch (Adhoc Studio)
Best Design
- Winner: Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
- BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital)
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
- Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
- Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
Innovation Award
- Winner: Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
- BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital)
- Baby Steps (Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy / Devolver Digital)
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
- Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Best Narrative
- Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
- Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastián Valbuena / Panic)
- Dispatch (AdHoc Studio)
- Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
Best Technology
- Winner: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
- Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
- Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
Best Visual Art
- Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
- Absolum (Guard Crush Games, Dotemu, Supamonks / Dotemu)
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Hades II (Supergiant Games)
- Keeper (Double Fine Productions / Xbox Game Studios)
Social Impact
- Winner: Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia)
- And Roger (TearyHand Studio / Kodansha)
- Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastián Valbuena / Panic)
- Dispatch (AdHoc Studio)
Game of the Year
- Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
- Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
- Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
- Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry)
- Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
Audience Award
- Winner: and Roger
Lifetime Achievement Award
- Winner: Don Daglow
Ambassador Award
- Winner: Rebecca Ann Heineman
