Game Awards 2025 remains an event that is already historic even before the December ceremony when it officially pronounces winners in awards history. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has actually achieved the most nominations of all time awarded to a single title. The game debuted to rave reviews in April and is an unprecedented turn-based RPG that has just won an unprecedented 12 nominations in 10 categories, thus putting it ahead of everyone else and breaking an important industry record. Before this, the all-time record of 11 nominations was held since 2020 by Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II. This tremendous showing makes Expedition 33 a critical flagship title in today’s generation of video game releases.
The wide-ranging accolades include almost every major performance and creative category. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is up for the top Game of the Year award. Among the other contenders are Hades 2 and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Apart from the ultimate prize, its nominations extend across many of the essential technical and artistic accomplishments, such as Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, and Best RPG. The enormous number of nominations reflects a rare unanimous opinion about the quality of the game itself and the comprehensive design.
Importantly, it set a second, never-before-seen record by having three individual nominations in one category: Best Performance. For the first time in TGA history, three actors from one game- Ben Starr (Verso), Charlie Cox (Gustave), and Jennifer English (Maelle)- were nominated together for the game. This reflects the depth of the story, the heart it touches, and quality in the cast. The game by Sandfall Interactive and Kepler Interactive has received praises from players as well as critics since its release for turn-based combat, uniquely rich characters, and most importantly, the commitment of the voice cast, making the early “Game of the Year” buzz seem legitimate.
The fact remains that most of the games that exceed the game in nominal terms tend to win the Game of the Year, which is indeed a good omen for this role-playing game. For example, this has happened in the previous years, such as with Baldur’s Gate 3, who won GOTY after snagging nine nominations, and the previous all-time record holder, The Last of Us Part II. The success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 represents a huge leap towards the RPG genre and its very first master studio to penetrate a massive global impact. The industry will now wait for the December ceremony to comply or deny what seems to be a race well on its way to an ultimate victory for the game and a hallmark for history beyond sheer numbers in nominations.
