On Thursday, December 12, 2025, The Game Awards held its annual Game of the Year ceremony. The ceremony was hosted by Geoff Keighley and celebrated the best games of 2025. The Game Awards recognizes the technical and creative excellence in the global video game industry. “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” was recognized as The Game Awards, Game of the Year. The game was released on April 24, 2025 and is a role-playing game developed by French studio Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive.
“Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” is set in a world inspired by Belle Époque, France, where the citizens of Lumière suffer from a yearly event known as the Gommage. During the Gommage, an entity known as the Paintress paints a number on a rock formation on the continent of Monolith. People of the same age or older disappear. Every year after the Gommage, Lumière sends out an expedition of volunteers to try and defeat the Paintress, the most recent being Expedition 33. Those on expeditions are challenged to travel through the continent of Monolith, home to creatures such as Gestrals, Grandis, and Nevrons. Expedition 33 volunteers consist of Gustave, Maelle, Lune, and Sciel, each of whom have their own unique talents. As the volunteers venture farther from Lumière and closer to Monolith they encounter interesting characters such as Renoir, Verso, Monaco, and Esquire. Fans of the game can play as protagonist Gustave or the other volunteers of Expedition 33 as they travel on their journey to stop the Paintress from creating yet another Gommage.
The idea for the game originated in 2019 from Guillaume Broche who was an employee at Urbisoft. “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” was at first a passion project inspired by series such as the Final Fantasy. In 2020, he left Ubisoft and formed Sandfall Interactive to focus on developing Expedition 33. The project initially consisted of Broche himself, Francois Meurisse and Tom Guillermin but was later joined by Lorien Testard, Nicholas Mazson-Francombe and Jennifer Svedberg-Yen. Later the company partnered with Kepler Interactive and gained access to voice actors, musicians, artists, animators and many others.
The rookie game broke The Game Awards’ trophy-snatching record with 9 awards in categories such as Best Independent Game and Best Game Direction. It became winners alongside popular games such as “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” and “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.”
Other entries for the Game of the Year included “Hollow Knight: SilkSong,” “Hades II,” “Donkey Kong Bonanza”, “Kingdom Come: Deliverance II,” and “Death Standing 2: On the Beach.” The first three won best in other categories. “Hollow Knight: SilkSong” was named The Game Awards’ Best Action Adventure. It is a Metroidvania game developed by Australian developer Team Cherry. The game was released on September 4, 2025 and is a sequel of “Hollow Knight.” The events of the story take place after those of “Hollow Knight” continuing Hornet’s story, Hallownest’s former princess protectors as she is captured and transported to the land of Pharloom. Players battle enemies, complete quests, and overcome challenges to restore the kingdom of Pharloom.
“Hades II” is an action role-playing game developed and published by Supergiant Games and is a sequel to the 2020 game “Hades.” The game was released in May of 2024, it won The Game Awards’ Best Action Game. The story follows sister of Zegreus (protagonist of Hades) and Princess of the Underworld Melinoё as she works to defeat the Titan of Time, Chronos.
The Game Awards’ Best Family award was given to “Donkey Kong Bonanza,” a 2025 game developed by Nintendo EPD for the Nintendo Switch 2. Players play as Donkey Kong as it travels underground with teenager Pauline to obtain the planetary core, an object with the power of wish-granting. Players battle enemies, collect objects, and explore sandbox-like levels while completing objectives.
“Clair Obscur: Expedition 33,” “Hollow Knight: Silksong,” “Hades II,” “Donkey Kong Bonanza” and many other incredible games got their chance to earn the recognition that they deserve through the different award categories offered by The Game Awards. 2025 brought many new and fun games to players worldwide but it’s time to see what the games of 2026 have to offer.
