Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins Game of the Year at 26th GDCA

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been named as Game of the Year at the 26th annual Game Developers Choice Awards. That’s actually just one of the five awards that the game brought home. It was also awarded with Best Debut, Best Visual Art, Best Narrative and Best Audio

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 serves as a loving ode to, along with the evolution of, the classic JRPG genre having real-time action elements and a uniquely French-inspired narrative and aesthetic. The game offers a dramatic story filled with dread and hope as it features an artfully crafted world. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available for the PC via Steam along with consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

The other winners of the 26th annual Game Developers Choice Awards are:

• Best Design: Blue Prince

• Best Technology Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

• Innovation Award: Blue Prince

• Audience Award: and Roger

• Social Impact: Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia)

Lifetime Achievement Award

During the ceremony Emmy Award-winning game designer Don Daglow was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Daglow is a towering pioneer having an expansive list of industry firsts across his 55-year and more than hundred-game career. These include the first baseball game (BASBAL, 1971), the first RTS or sim game (Utopia, 1981) and the first MMORPG to use graphics instead of text (Neverwinter Nights, 1991-1997, AOL, Emmy Award).

Ambassador Award

Honored as well was Rebecca Ann Heineman (1963–2025), who was the posthumous recipient of the Ambassador Award. Heineman was a trailblazing figure in the games industry and celebrated as one of the first professional video game players and a pioneering developer. In 1980, she made history by winning the first National Space Invaders Championship and served as the inaugural U.S. video game tournament champion. This victory launched a 45-year career during which she contributed to more than 250 games, including classics such as The Bard's Tale III, Dragon Wars, Wolfenstein 3D, and Doom (3DO).

The 26th annual Game Developers Choice Awards is produced and hosted annually by GDC Festival of Gaming. It is the premier and globally recognized accolade for peer recognition in the video game industry. The event honors and celebrates the greatest games created in the last year and the developers behind them.