Oui! Oui! It’s time to break out the baguettes. Sandfall and Kepler Interactive’s French action adventure game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 staked claim on the Game of the Year prize at the 12th Game Awards, which were handed out Thursday at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 also garnered wins for Best Independent Game, Best Narrative and Best Art Direction. Jennifer English also won Best Performance for her role as Maelle in the game.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 came into the ceremony with 12 total nominations, a record breaking stat in the history of the awards show, and left with 9.
Other winners included Donkey Kong Bananza for Best Family Game, Hades II won Best Action Game, South of Midnight for Games For Impact, Hollow Knight: Silksong for Best Action/Adventure, while HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2 took home Best Adaption.
In a mission to always outdo themselves from the year prior, the tech-based awards show did not skimp on the star power or surprises. Several top studios and indie game developers made splashy announcements for their upcoming titles: Lucasfilm kicked off the slew of big-ticket surprises, unveiling Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, developed by Casey Hudson, former director of the Mass Effect trilogy and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Larian Studios, home of 2023’s Game of the Year winner Baldur’s Gate 3, revealed their next haunting roleplay title, Divinity. Day 4 Night Studio’s revealed Bradley the Badger, a comedy action adventure starring Evan Peters, while Capcom’s highly anticipated horror title Resident Evil Requiem confirmed the decades-long return of fan favorite, Leon Kennedy.
Another high-concept reveal came from Amazon Game Studios and Crystal Dynamics, with two new Lara Croft titles. The first, in 2026, is Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a reimagining of the 1996 game that sees the adventurer fighting for her life against dinosaurs and diving over steep waterfalls to find the lost city. The second, coming in 2027, is Tomb Raider Catalyst, set amid a mystical disaster that sends Lara to Northern India to uncover ancient secrets guarded by powerful, mysterious forces. Alix Wilton Regan (Cyberpunk 2077) takes over the voice of Lara Croft from Camilla Luddington, who led the last two Square Enix-developed Tomb Raider games, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider in 2015 and 2018, respectively.
Star presenters included the cast of 2026’s Street Fighter, Noah Centino, Jason Momoa, Orville Peck, David Dastmalchian and Callina Liang, who debuted a first look teaser from the film, along with handing out the award for Best Ongoing Game to No Man’s Sky. Jeffrey Wright and his son Elijah presented the Best Action Game to Hades II, and Gemma Chan brought out musician Lenny Kravitz to talk about their upcoming roles in Amazon Games’ 007 First Light. Other stars present were Milla Jovovich, J.J. Abrams, Tricia Helfer and David Harbour. The show also featured a special live performance from Evanescence. The Game Awards Orchestra, conducted by BAFTA and Emmy-nominated composer Lorne Balfe, performed scores from the year’s Game of the Year nominees and more.
Here are the winners of the 2025 Game Awards.
GAME OF THE YEAR
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
BEST GAME DIRECTION
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
BEST NARRATIVE
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
BEST ART DIRECTION
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
BEST SCORE AND MUSIC, LEVELED UP BY SPOTIFY
Lorien Testard, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
BEST AUDIO DESIGN
Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios/EA)
BEST PERFORMANCE
Jennifer English, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY
Doom: The Dark Ages (id Software/Bethesda Softworks)
GAMES FOR IMPACT
South of Midnight (Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios)
BEST ONGOING GAME
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
BEST INDEPENDENT GAME
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive)
BEST DEBUT INDIE GAME
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
BEST MOBILE GAME
Umamusume: Pretty Derby (Cygames Inc.)
BEST VR/AR
The Midnight Walk (MoonHood/Fast Travel Games)
BEST ACTION
Hades II (Supergiant Games)
BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE
Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry)
BEST RPG
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
BEST FIGHTING
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves (SNK Corporation)
BEST FAMILY
Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
BEST SIM/STRATEGY
FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – The Ivalice Chronicles (Square Enix)
BEST SPORTS/RACING
Mario Kart World (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
BEST MULTIPLAYER
Arc Raiders (Embark Studios)
BEST ADAPTATION
The Last of Us: Season 2 (HBO/PlayStation Productions)
MOST ANTICIPATED GAME
Grand Theft Auto VI (Rockstar Games)
CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR
MoistCr1TiKaL
BEST ESPORTS GAME
Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
BEST ESPORTS ATHLETE
Chovy – Jeong Ji-hoon (League of Legends)
BEST ESPORTS TEAM
Team Vitality – Counter-Strike 2
PLAYERS’ VOICE
Wuthering Waves (Kuro Games)
