The French won. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 swept the 2025 Game Awards on Friday, winning nine of the 10 categories it was nominated for, including the coveted Game of the Year, a remarkable feat of total domination. The debut game from French indie developer Sandfall Interactive also won Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, and Best Performance, taking all of the night’s major awards.
The turn-based role-playing game also won the Best Role-Playing Game, Best Indie Game, and Best First Launch Indie Game categories, losing out only to EA’s Battlefield 6 in the Best Audio Design category. This return marks the incredible culmination of Claire Obska: Expedition 33, a little-known indie game that wowed players and critics alike when it released in April.
Other winners on the night (and there were only a handful) included Arc Raiders, the new PvPvE extraction shooter from developer Embark Studios, which beat out stiff competition from the likes of Battlefield 6, Elden Ring Nightreign, and Split Fiction to win the Best Multiplayer Game category. Xbox won two awards for its first-party games, with id Software’s “Doom: Dark Ages” winning the “Accessibility Innovation” award and Compulsion Games’ “South of Midnight” winning the “Impact Games” category.
Sony was the most nominated game publisher at this year’s Game Awards, with 19 nominations, but only won one award: Best Adaptation for HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2. Nintendo, on the other hand, won two awards for its two new Switch 2 exclusives: “Donkey Kong Balnazzar” won the Best Family Game Award, and “Mario Kart World” won the Best Sports/Racing Game Award.
In the genre category, “Hades 2”, which was also nominated for Game of the Year, became the best action game; “Hollow Knight: Silksong”, another GoTY nominated game, won the award for best action/adventure game; “Haunting of the Wolf” won the award for best fighting game; “Final Fantasy Tactics” – “Chronicles of Ivalice” won the award for best simulation/strategy game. As expected, “Grand Theft Auto 6” won the Most Anticipated Game Award.
Here’s the full list of The Game Awards 2025 winners:
best game of the year
Winner – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
“Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Hades II (super giant game)
Hollow Knight: Silk Song (Team Cherry)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver)
Best game guide
Winner – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
“Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Sucker Punch Productions/SIE
Hades II (super giant game)
Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios/EA)
best narrative
Winner – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
“Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Sucker Punch Productions/SIE
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver)
“Silent Hill” f (NeoBards Entertainment/Konami)
Best Art Direction
Winner – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
“Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Sucker Punch Productions/SIE
Hades II (super giant game)
Hollow Knight: Silk Song (Team Cherry)
Best soundtrack and music
Winner – Lorien Testard, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Christopher Larkin, Hollow Knight: Silk Song
Darren Kolb “Hades II”
Otowa Toma “The Soul of the Goat Hoof”
Woodkid and Ludvig Forssell, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Best audio design
Winner – Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios/EA)
Claire Obscure: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
“Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Sucker Punch Productions/SIE
“Silent Hill” f (NeoBards Entertainment/Konami)
best performance
Winner – Jennifer English, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Ben Starr, Claire Obsker: Expedition 33
Charlie Cox, Claire Obsker: The 33rd Expedition
Erika Ishii “The Soul of the Yotho”
Kato Konatsu “Silent Hill”
Troy Baker “Indiana Jones and the Circle”
Accessible innovation
Winner – Doom: Dark Ages (id Software/Bethesda Softworks)
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows (Ubisoft)
Atomic Fall (Rebellion)
EA Sports FC 26 (EA Canada/EA Romania/EA)
South of Midnight (Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios)
influence game
Winner – South of Midnight (Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios)
Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia/ AP Thomson/ Hexacutable)
Despelote (Julian Cordero/Sebastian Valbuena/Panic)
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Don’t Nod Montreal/Don’t Nod)
Wanderstop (Ivy Road/Annapurna Interactive)
Best ongoing games
Winner – No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/SIE)
Marvel Rivals (NetEase Games)
Winner – Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Helldiver 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Best Indie Game
Winner – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
Absolum (Guard Crush Games/Supamonks/Dotemu)
Ball x Pit (Kenny Sun/ Devolver Digital)
Blue Prince (Dogubomb/Raw Fury)
Hades II (super giant game)
Hollow Knight: Silk Song (Team Cherry)
Best Debut Indie Game
Winner – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
Blue Prince (Dogubomb/Raw Fury)
Desperot (Julian Cordero/Sebastian Valbuena/Panic)
Scheduling (AdHoc Studio)
Best Mobile Games
Winner – Umamusume: Pretty Derby (Cygames Inc.)
Destiny: Uprising (NetEase Games)
“Persona 5: Phantom X” (Black Wings Game Studio/Sega)
Sonic Brawl (Rovio Entertainment/Sega)
Roaring Waves (Kuro Games)
Best VR/AR Games
Winner – The Midnight Walk (MoonHood/Fast Travel Games)
Aliens: Survios
Age of Ark (Vitruvius VR)
Ghost Town (Fire Protection Game)
Marvel’s Deadpool VR (Twisted Pixel Games/Oculus Studios)
best action games
Winner – Hades II (Supergiant Games)
Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios/EA)
Doom: Dark Ages (id Software/Bethesda Softworks)
Ninja Gaiden 4 (Platinum Games/Team Ninja/Xbox Game Studios)
Ninja: The Art of Revenge (Lizardcube/Sega)
Best Action/Adventure Game
Winner – Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry)
“Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Sucker Punch Productions/SIE
Indiana Jones and the Circle (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)
Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios/EA)
Best RPG
Winner – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
Oath (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver)
The Outer Worlds 2 (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Monster Hunter Wilds (Capcom)
best fighting games
Winner – “Hungry Wolf: Castle of Wolves” (SNK Corporation)
2XKO (Riot Games)
Capcom Fighter Collection 2 (Capcom)
Mortal Kombat: Legacy Series (Digital Eclipse/Atari)
Virtua Fighter 5 REVO World Stage (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
Best Family Games
Winner – Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Lego party! (SMG Studio/Novel)
LEGO Voyager (Light Brick Studios/ Annapurna Interactive)
Mario Kart World (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (Sonic Team/SEGA)
Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios/EA)
Best Simulation/Strategy Game
Winner – Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles (Square Enix)
Alters (11-bit studio)
Jurassic World: Evolution 3 (Frontier Development)
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII (Firaxis Games/2K)
Storm Rising (Sliding Door Steelworks/3D Realms)
Two Point Museum (Two Point Studio/SEGA)
Best Sports/Racing Game
Winner – Mario Kart World (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
EA Sports FC 26 (EA Canada/EA Romania/EA)
F1 25 (Codemasters/EA)
Rematch (Sloclap/Kepler Interactive)
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (Sonic Team/SEGA)
Best Multiplayer Games
Winner – Arc Raiders (Embark Studios)
Battlefield 6 (Electronic Arts)
“Elden Ring Nightreign” (from Software/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Mountain Top (Hate Crab/Landing)
Split Fiction (Hazelight/EA)
best fit
Winner – The Last of Us: Season 2 (HBO/PlayStation Productions)
Minecraft Movie (Legendary Pictures/Mojang/Warner Bros.)
Devil May Cry (Mill Studios/Capcom/Netflix)
Splinter Cell: Deathwatch (FOST Studio/Ubisoft/Netflix)
Until Dawn (Screen Gems/PlayStation Productions)
most anticipated games
Winner – Grand Theft Auto VI (Rockstar Games)
007 The first ray of light (IO interactive)
Marvel Wolverine (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil Requiem (Capcom)
The Witcher IV (CD Projekt Red)
Content Creator of the Year
Winner – MoistCr1TiKaL
Kader
kaisenate
Sakura Miko
burnt peanuts
Best esports games
Winner – Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
DOTA 2 (valve)
League of Legends (Riot)
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Moonton)
brave(riot)
Best eSports Athlete
Winner – Chovy – Jeong Ji-hoon (League of Legends)
brawk – Brock Somerhalder (Valorant)
f0rsakeN – Jason Susanto (Valorant)
Sho Watanabe (Street Fighter)
MenaRD – Sol Leonardo (Street Fighter)
Zyw0o – Mathieu Hellbot (Counter-Strike 2)
Best Esports Team
Winner – Team Dynamic – Counter-Strike 2
Gen.G – League of Legends
NRG – Brave
Falcons – DOTA 2
Team Liquid PH – Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
