The Game Awards 2025 Results

The Game Awards 2025 showed recognition for the best indie games alongside major industry categories. The annual showcase took place in December at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and continued to serve as a central platform for acknowledging accomplishments for both major and indie game development.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was among the most prominently recognized independent titles during the ceremony. That night, it received the award in the indie category as well as the Debut Game award. The wins extended the title’s presence across the 2025 awards season. However, shortly after receiving the Game of the Year honor at The Game Awards 2025, the title was stripped of two awards previously granted by the Indie Game Awards, following public attention surrounding its use of generative AI.

Source: https://www.otakupt.com/jogos/the-game-awards-2025-ja-tem-data/

And we have more to tell. Let's see a complete list of winners from The Game Awards 2025, including independent and major category recipients, provided below.

The Game Awards announcements featured huge recent AAA games from “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” to “Ghost of Yotei” at the top, with plenty of independent titles that caught a ton of attention throughout the year. Here is the entire list of Game Awards winners and nominees by award category at the ceremony.

Hosted and produced by the Canadian games writer Geoff Keighley, the ceremony has continued its longstanding premise of mixing awards presentations and high-level reveals. Keighley came back with Kimmie Kim as executive producer, Richard Preuss as director, LeRoy Bennett as creative director, and Michael E. Peter as co-executive producer. Sydnee Goodman, who again hosted the 30-minute preshow, titled Opening Act.

Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/events-conferences/the-game-awards-nominations-are-here-and-surprise-clair-obscur-expedition-33-was-nominated-for-every-qualifying-category/

The most notable of these awards included the Most Anticipated Game award to Grand Theft Auto VI, confirming its status of importance for the years ahead. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 represented another huge milestone, becoming the first debut from a French studio to be awarded Game of the Year and earning one of the ceremony’s most watched Game Awards trophies.

The ceremony itself this time was dedicated to Keighley’s late father, who passed away in August. An empty seat was reserved in his honor next to Keighley’s mother, a moment acknowledged during the broadcast without interrupting the formal proceedings.

The event was livestreamed globally across platforms including TikTok, Twitch, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube, with Amazon Prime Video joining the distribution lineup for the first time. During the broadcast, China registered high viewership, with Bilibili, Huya Live, and Weibo all signatories. For the first time, the Twitch stream was shown in 1440p resolution, as technical upgrades to the show reached a peak.

A good portion of the three-hour session focused on new announcements, though roughly 17 minutes covered awards. Following it, data revealed certain publishers paid up to $450,000 for just sixty seconds of streaming ad time, with longer segments costing more. Information about future features, such as developer highlights and curated displays, was released ahead of schedule to spark early interest; interestingly, an artwork installed in the Mojave Desert later appeared at the central venue prior to a major reveal for a well-known show.

Source: https://tbreak.com/game-awards-desert-statue-divinity-rumour/

Among the games previewed, Total War: Warhammer 40,000 quickly rose in visibility on Steam soon after being shown, whereas footage from Resident Evil Requiem, Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, and Divinity stood out across press outlets and online platforms. These reveals highlighted how the gathering functioned both as a celebration of achievement and a central hub for updates relevant to players, studios, and game developers alike.

Despite returning in 2024, the Future Class program stayed absent through 2025, its participants erased quietly from site pages. Still, this year's Game Awards carried the pulse of the current gaming industry, polished on screen, widely discussed off it, filled with insider news bubbling up across studios.

Success at The Game Awards 2025 reveals noticeable changes in what counts as achievement within game development. Though many blockbusters rely on size, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 rose by emphasizing inventive structure and guided experience. Rather than depending on established names, its recognition came from fresh lore and emotional depth in storytelling. Because it won major honors, it reflects a shift in taste among voters and players alike. Originality, not repetition, shaped the outcome this time around.

Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/clair-obscur-expedition-33-tips/

A wider set of Game Award nominees highlights the same shift. In key categories, games focused on story and unique design showed up often, suggesting praise now follows how deeply players connect and stay involved. What wins favor and boosts player retention seems shaped more by lasting involvement and emotional pull than by initial buzz.

This year’s event put a spotlight on games appearing across several platforms at once. Notable entries spanned phones, computers, consoles, and ongoing online services, showing how developers aim for a broader reach while extending game longevity. At the same time, virtual and augmented reality efforts gained more attention. Their growing presence signals these tools are shifting from test phases into established parts of today’s creative workflows.

Source: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/south-of-midnight-looks-like-a-deep-south-take-on-a-ps2-era-action-adventure/1100-6527779/

Nowhere is the shift clearer than in how categories shaped by players and made by fans have earned official space. When honors go to those picked by audiences or built by online makers, it shows how much sway commentators, live broadcasters, and active community members hold over what gets seen and remembered. Altogether, the pattern across recent Game Awards points in one direction: staying relevant means guiding innovation, appearing beyond single platforms, and keeping people involved long after launch. The future is less about budget size, more about lasting connections.

Award season tipped heavily in favor of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, topping The Game Awards 2025 with an unprecedented haul across categories, Game of the Year among them. Though it marked Sandfall Interactive's first full release, the French team delivered something unmistakably complete. Where others might falter, its storytelling reached further, with systems operated with rare precision. Recognition poured in, not just from reviewers but also peers and audiences, drawn to how tightly every visual, theme, and mechanic aligned.

Within the broken realm of Lumière, life bends beneath an annual decree handed down by a being called the Paintress; she chooses how long people may live before vanishing. This is where Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 unfolds, tracking those chosen to face her after years of others who tried—and did not return. Mortality shapes every choice, every bond, and each burden passed between generations. Rather than explain everything up front, the game reveals its heart slowly, moment by moment, through what characters say, do, and leave unsaid.

Scenes breathe with tension, yet never lose sight of personal cost. Emotion moves steadily forward, guided less by narration and more by silence and ruins left behind. Though the mission drives progress, it's loss that gives weight to every step taken.

The game employs a modernized take on turn-based combat. Developers blended traditional command selection with real-time mechanics like dodging and parrying. These elements require players to remain engaged during both offensive and defensive phases, creating a rhythm-focused combat flow.

Source: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/clair-obscur-expedition-33-is-a-turn-based-rpg-with-beautiful-artistic-flair-130050721.html

Each party member introduces distinct systems tied to resource management, stances, or conditional effects, encouraging experimentation and strategic synergy. Reviewers consistently highlighted the system’s balance between accessibility and depth, noting that its design maintained intensity across the game’s comparatively streamlined runtime.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 32 stands out with visuals shaped by French artistic traditions and stage design, yet also dreamlike distortions. Some scenes drift into misty open spaces; others settle within broken remains of battlefields, all tied together through consistent stylistic choices that echo the story’s core ideas.

Source: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/rpg/clair-obscur-expedition-33-lead-says-anyone-whos-a-fan-of-our-story-should-check-out-one-of-the-rpgs-biggest-inspirations-but-youre-gonna-have-to-learn-french-first/

Although concerns emerged about the temporary use of AI-generated surface details in early versions (quickly removed post-launch), the overall response kept returning to how fully realized its settings felt. Reviewers often highlighted the boldness of its look, calling it memorable, even absorbing.

Music helps define how the game feels throughout. Compositions merge sweeping orchestra lines with dramatic singing and ambient electronic layers, adjusting subtly when players move from quiet areas into battle or story scenes.

Reviewers often highlighted how well the music shifts mood, matching tension during fights while deepening quieter, reflective sequences. Performances by voice actors received strong recognition, too, mainly because dialogue sounded genuine, helping characters feel more relatable and genuine.

Upon launch, the game drew widespread praise from reviewers. Scoring over ninety on Metacritic for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S, its critical standing remains strong. According to OpenCritic, nearly every critic supported the release. Players responded just as favorably: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 reached the top user score ever logged on Metacritic. Its Steam profile shows an “Overwhelmingly Positive” verdict from more than one hundred thousand reviews. Strengths frequently mentioned include storytelling, battle mechanics, visual design, and music. Some pointed out narrow navigation aids or brief lags in rhythm throughout play.

Even after being briefly removed from the Indie Game Awards over concerns about AI-generated visuals, attention mostly stayed on how tightly woven and expansive Sandfall Interactive's world felt. Recognition within the industry added weight; acclaimed creators spoke well of it, notable personalities took notice, while its presence lingered across award shows and best-of lists when the year closed.

Source: https://gamingtrend.com/previews/clair-obscur-expedition-33-hands-on-preview-triumphant-turn-based-tour-de-force/

Far from blending into the crowd, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 stood out by aligning story, gameplay, and visuals around a single strong idea—this cohesion likely fueled its award dominance in 2025.

The Game Awards 2025 highlighted a year where diverse titles gained recognition, spanning multiple genres and development scales. While big-budget entries like Grand Theft Auto VI, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and Battlefield 6 received nods, so did smaller projects such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33—proof that a unique vision matters just as much as scale. Recognition wasn’t limited by studio size or budget; instead, it favored strong identity and focused design.

What stood out this year was not one path to success, but multiple approaches thriving through immersive settings, deliberate design choices, and deep engagement with players. Despite differing scales or formats, GOTY winners highlighted that fresh ideas, when well carried out, still shape what earns top honors in gaming.

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