French indie video game dominates 2025 Game Awards
The Game Awards is an annual show similar to the Oscars, where game designers, their development teams, and all those involved are recognised for the hard work they put into releasing a game throughout the year.
The 2025 Game Awards is "the global celebration of video games".
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This year, one game surprised everyone by sweeping up the major awards and winning a record amount.
French indie title 'Clair Obscur: Expedition 33' dominated the annual Game Awards in Los Angeles, winning a record of nine categories, including best video game of the year.
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"What a weird timeline for us," Guillaume Broche of video game studio Sandfall Interactive quipped, thanking his team as he accepted the top award.
And also I want to extend thanks to the unsung heroes of this industry -- the people who make tutorials on YouTube on how to make a game -- because we had no idea how to make a game before.
'Clair Obscur', Sandfall's first game, tells the story of a group of characters battling seemingly impossible odds in a post-apocalyptic universe with a distinctively French visual style.
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It was nominated in a record number of categories, winning many despite squaring up against heavyweights like 'Death Stranding 2' from industry legend Hideo Kojima of 'Metal Gear Solid' fame and 'Donkey Kong Bananza' from Nintendo.
'Clair Obscur' began in 2020 as a project of Broche, a developer at French gaming giant Ubisoft.
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He brought ex-colleague Tom Guillermin on board to create the small studio in the French city of Montpellier that same year.
• 'Thank you to the players' -
They struck a publishing deal in 2022 with UK-based Kepler Interactive, which provided funding for the project.
Some 5 million copies of 'Clair Obscur' have been snapped up since its release in April of this year.
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"This is a passion project into which we poured our heart and soul," Broche said, surrounded by members of his team in a video sent by Sandfall to AFP.
"To be rewarded like this is just wonderful!"
Broche gave a "massive thank you" to players during the ceremony.
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The grassroots popularity of 'Clair Obscur' has seen fans attend conventions and game fairs wearing a striped mariner's shirt and red beret -- one of the most stereotypically French outfits players can dress their characters in.
The action game follows a small group of characters as they seek to defeat a powerful entity threatening their home city, Lumiere, which bears a striking resemblance to Belle Époque Paris.
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Inspired by Japanese games such as the long-running 'Final Fantasy' franchise, the French title is a role-playing game offering turn-based combat against monsters inhabiting the world.
Its popularity was founded on the story's emotional depth and endearing characters, combined with original gameplay that introduced reactive, rhythm-based elements to parry enemies' attacks.
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Sandfall "managed to present something really polished and go toe-to-toe with major titles," industry specialist Benoit Reinier told AFP at the time of the game's release.
The music of 'Clair Obscur' stuck in many players' heads and played a significant role in their immersion in its universe.
Winning categories for the game included narrative, role-playing, and music score.
French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the team in May, thanking them for "putting the spotlight on French-style boldness and creativity."
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There are also plans to bring the "Expedition 33" story to the big screen.
The awards show was streamed on 30 platforms, including Amazon Prime for the first time.
It was packed with trailers for upcoming games, including 'Star Wars' and 'Tomb Raider' titles, as well as appearances by celebrities, including Jason Momoa, who is among the actors in a film based on 'Street Fighter' set for release next year.
"The games nominated this year were created by teams from all over the world," said Nicolas Doucet, founder of Team Asobi, which won the top game last year with 'Astro Bot'.
"This is a testament that our industry feeds from various world cultures and, in this day and age, is something we should really, really appreciate and celebrate."
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Image: The Game Awards