Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 became the most awarded game in industry history

By: Anton Kratiuk | today, 11:08

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has become a true revelation for the entire gaming industry. The project with a total budget of $10 million, from a small team of inexperienced developers and virtually no marketing campaign, overshadowed games from huge companies with gigantic financial investments.

By the end of 2025, Expedition 33 was among the top three most awarded games, but now it has become the leader.

What is known

According to the count of "Game of the Year" awards from publications, bloggers, and professional juries, the debut game Sandfall Interactive received 436 awards and surpassed Elden Ring, whose result was unattainable for any game for three years.

The third place in terms of the number of awards goes to The Last of Us Part II.

Arguably, in the top 20 listed below, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the most budget-friendly game, which once again proves the primary importance of developers' creativity and talent, rather than large investments and huge teams of managers.

Top 20 most awarded games in the industry:

  1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — 436;
  2. Elden Ring— 435;
  3. The Last of Us Part II — 326;
  4. Baldur’s Gate III — 288;
  5. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — 281;
  6. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — 264;
  7. God of War (2018) — 263;
  8. The Last of Us — 257;
  9. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — 229;
  10. Astro Bot — 196;
  11. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End — 190;
  12. Red Dead Redemption 2 — 178;
  13. Grand Theft Auto V — 163;
  14. Dragon Age: Inquisition — 139;
  15. Death Stranding — 118;
  16. God of War: Ragnarök — 118;
  17. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves — 115;
  18. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — 114;
  19. Overwatch — 114;
  20. Red Dead Redemption — 111.

Soon there will be several more major ceremonies, including the DICE Awards, GDC Awards, and BAFTA Games Awards, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will surely increase its number of awards.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series.

Source: Resetera