History was made at The Game Awards 2025 when Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 swept the ceremony with a record-breaking nine wins from thirteen nominations, including the coveted Game of the Year trophy. This marked the first time a debut game and the first French-developed title claimed gaming’s biggest honor, while surpassing The Last of Us Part II’s previous record of seven wins.
The French turn-based RPG made for under ten million dollars somehow managed to be the defining game of 2025, a stunning achievement for Sandfall Interactive’s first title. Most of the 30-person development team flew from France and bought tickets to attend the show, each dressed in traditional French mariniere with red berets, creating one of the ceremony’s most memorable moments. The game earned accolades including Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Performance for Jennifer English, Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best RPG.
French president Emmanuel Macron publicly congratulated Sandfall after the sweep, while the game’s engagement tripled after the show, with more than 300,000 copies sold in the following five days and a 160 percent weekly increase in players.
The ceremony also delivered blockbuster announcements. Larian Studios announced Divinity during the show, with CEO Swen Vincke describing it as their biggest, most ambitious RPG yet. Star Wars Fate of the Old Republic was revealed as a solo RPG set during the Knights of the Old Republic period, developed by Arcanaut Studios headed by Casey Hudson, the original KOTOR director.
Can an indie underdog story like this reshape industry expectations for triple-A budgets?
