Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur Sweeps The Game Awards, Breaks Record With Nine Wins

Sandfall Interactive’s debut RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 dominated The Game Awards 2025, winning a record nine trophies including Game of the Year.

“Clair Obscur: Expedition 33emerged as the undisputed star of The Game Awards 2025, turning the ceremony into a showcase of its dominance across major categories”

ABP Live English

The nine trophies surpassed the previous high of seven.

ABP Live English

Multiple outlets covering the Los Angeles ceremony described the haul as historic.

PC Gamer described it as the big winner that took Game of the Year and a total of nine awards, while IGN said it dominated the ceremony with a record nine prizes including Game of the Year.

Metro reported the French indie took home nine trophies including Game of the Year, and TheGamer said the sweep surpassed the previous seven-win mark.

Together these reports establish a consistent factual baseline across sources about the scale of Clair Obscur’s victory.

Clair Obscur’s haul spanned creative, technical and prestige categories.

Outlets listed wins for Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score & Music, Best Independent Game, Best RPG and Best Debut Indie Game.

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Jennifer English was singled out for Best Performance, and Lorien Testard was noted for the score.

Polygon itemized the categories won and explicitly noted the only categories the game lost: Best Audio Design and the fan-voted Players’ Choice.

GamesRadar+, TheGamer and Wccftech highlighted that Battlefield 6 took Best Audio Design and Wuthering Waves won the player-voted prize, underscoring which rival titles prevented a complete sweep.

Developers and outlets captured a heartfelt, sometimes playful acceptance scene.

“Posted By free, fresh, fair Azat TV Quick Read 2025’s Game Awards were a celebration of innovation, storytelling, and community in gaming”

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Founder and director Guillaume Broche accepted Game of the Year and thanked his small team and online creators who helped him learn game development.

Multiple reports quoted Broche and noted his visible emotion.

Le Monde said Broche 'didn't know how to make a game before'.

Malay Mail and RFI report that he thanked 'the people who make tutorials on YouTube' and other 'unsung heroes' like YouTube creators.

IGN adds that Broche also thanked collaborators onstage, including Hironobu Sakaguchi, while announcing a surprise DLC update.

Many outlets framed Clair Obscur’s sweep as a broader signal for independent games and a talking point about awards momentum.

Polygon noted the win was widely expected, reporting that prediction markets had given it roughly a 93–96% chance at GOTY.

BBC

Polygon also pointed to visibility from Xbox Game Pass and unanimous critical praise as contributing factors.

Moneycontrol and Metro argued the result shows how small teams can compete with AAA producers and may mark a new era for high-quality independent titles.

FandomWire and other outlets flagged a renewed debate over whether awards reward merit or momentum.

The rest of the ceremony was widely reported alongside Clair Obscur’s dominance.

“To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 pulled off the meanest of clean sweeps at the Game Awards 2025”

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Outlets listed other category winners: Battlefield 6 (Best Audio Design), Hollow Knight: Silksong (Best Action/Adventure), Hades 2 (Best Action), Arc Raiders (Best Multiplayer), No Man’s Sky (Best Ongoing Game), and South of Midnight (Games for Impact).

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They also documented reveals and onstage announcements.

The Hindu, Jagran Josh and ABP Live English provided consolidated winner lists and noted reveals and trailers.

PC Gamer and Larian-related coverage mentioned developer reveals, including Larian’s Divinity announcement during the broadcast.