Expedition 33 awards sweep says in regards to the video games business : NPR

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Frank Micelotta/Picturegroup The primary minutes of The Sport Awards set the mould for the following three hours. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 received greatest unbiased sport through the preshow, beating out acclaimed sequels like Hades 2 and Hole Knight: Silksong. Moments after, the principle stage opened with operatic singers and a full orchestra (plus the compulsory electrical guitar!) belting out music from the sport.

Clair Obscur was already the favourite to win the grand prize — however kicking off the present with the sport front-and-center felt like an anointing. It triumphed in almost each class it competed in, choosing up 9 awards in whole. By the point it received "Sport of the 12 months," Clair Obscur had surpassed The Final of Us: Half 2 to develop into essentially the most adorned sport within the Awards historical past.

As predictable because the evening grew to become, the sport it honored was something however. Clair Obscur got here from an unbiased French studio composed of builders who had labored for the French gaming behemoth Ubisoft. As an alternative of chasing fashionable genres like battle royales or open-world motion video games, Clair Obscur drew inspiration from turn-based role-playing video games just like the basic Last Fantasy titles. It paired an intimate and existential story with a setting that was each whimsical and epic. And it forged motion-capture icon Andy Serkis alongside sport actor veterans like Ben Starr and Jennifer English, who delivered the evening's most rousing speech when she accepted the award for greatest efficiency.

"I simply need to say to each neurodivergent individual watching on this room, as a result of I do know there's most likely various you," English mentioned. "To all of you that really feel like life is caught on exhausting mode, that is for you, and thanks a lot to the video games neighborhood and business for giving us, so many people, a house."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2119x1192+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd4%2Ff6%2Fc4176c8e4728a7c70eaee9f4493d%2F12-11-25-the-game-awards-2025-show-2.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2119x1192+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd4%2Ff6%2Fc4176c8e4728a7c70eaee9f4493d%2F12-11-25-the-game-awards-2025-show-2.jpg" class="img" alt="Jennifer English, also known for her leading role in 2023 Game of the Year winner Baldur's Gate 3, accepts her best performance award onstage at the Peacock Theater on December 11, 2025." loading="lazy"/> Jennifer English, additionally identified for her main position in 2023 Sport of the 12 months winner Baldur's Gate 3, accepts her greatest efficiency award onstage on the Peacock Theater on December 11, 2025. Frank Micelotta/Picturegroup disguise caption

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Frank Micelotta/Picturegroup Clair Obscur's victories match with two themes of the evening: the rise of unbiased studios and the internationalization of the awards themselves. Half of the "Sport of the 12 months" nominees had been indie video games, even because the time period has stretched to incorporate titles with sizable budgets and writer partnerships.

This semantic squishiness is a results of The Sport Awards' outsourced voting course of, which polls over 150 worldwide media shops (together with NPR) to find out an inventory of nominees. These shops resolve for themselves easy methods to outline classes like an "unbiased sport" or "motion journey sport." After the shortlist is tallied, they will decide their favorites in every class, that are weighted towards an open on-line voting system that makes up a tenth of the overall rating. Because the jury has expanded exterior of the U.S., which now solely represents roughly 15% of shops, award winners have develop into each extra international and extra mainstream.

Nonetheless, Clair Obscur's ubiquity speaks volumes. Even because it swept different deserving indies apart, the sport demonstrates the outsized impression a small crew can have on the broader market. Now not seen as only a area of interest, status title, Clair Obscur rose to prominence because of robust word-of-mouth and its inclusion on the Xbox Sport Cross Service, which allowed common players and critics alike to strive the sport out with out committing to a full buy.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x1688+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe3%2Fe3%2F1bf43d004b7184f0dcb090d249de%2F12-11-25-the-game-awards-2025-show-1.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x1688+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe3%2Fe3%2F1bf43d004b7184f0dcb090d249de%2F12-11-25-the-game-awards-2025-show-1.jpg" class="img" alt="Guillaume Broche, Tom Guillermin, Nicholas Maxon-Framcombe, and François Meurisse accept the Game of the Year award for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33." loading="lazy"/> Guillaume Broche, Tom Guillermin, Nicholas Maxon-Framcombe, and François Meurisse settle for the Sport of the 12 months award for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Frank Micelotta/Picturegroup disguise caption

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Frank Micelotta/Picturegroup Huge firms nonetheless took residence prizes, nevertheless. After being utterly shut out final 12 months, Nintendo earned a number of awards for Swap 2 exclusives, with Donkey Kong Bananza profitable greatest household and Mario Kart World profitable greatest sports activities/racing. Grand Theft Auto 6 received most anticipated sport for the second 12 months in a row. Wuthering Waves, a Chinese language sport with an enormous cell viewers, received the Gamers' Voice award, the one class utterly decided by public on-line votes.

Listed here are the complete nominees and winners for the 2025 Sport Awards (winners in daring):

Sport of the 12 months Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)Demise Stranding 2: On The Seashore (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Leisure)Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)Hades II (Supergiant Video games)Hole Knight: Silksong (Workforce Cherry)Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver)

Finest sport path Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)Demise Stranding 2: On The Seashore (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Leisure)Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Leisure)Hades II (Supergiant Video games)Cut up Fiction (Hazelight Studios/EA)

Finest narrative Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)Demise Stranding 2: On The Seashore (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Leisure)Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Leisure)Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver)Silent Hill f (NeoBards Leisure/KONAMI)

Finest artwork path Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)Demise Stranding 2: On The Seashore (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Leisure)Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Leisure)Hades II (Supergiant Video games)Hole Knight: Silksong (Workforce Cherry)

Finest rating and music, leveled up by Spotify Christopher Larkin, Hole Knight: SilksongLorien Testard, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Darren Korb, Hades IIToma Otowa, Ghost of YōteiWoodkid and Ludvig Forssell, Demise Stranding 2: On The Seashore

Finest audio design Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios/EA)Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)Demise Stranding 2: On the Seashore (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Leisure)Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Leisure)Silent Hill f (NeoBards Leisure/KONAMI)

Finest efficiency Ben Starr, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Charlie Cox, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Erika Ishii, Ghost of YōteiJennifer English, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Konatsu Kato, Silent Hill fTroy Baker, Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle

Innovation in accessibility Murderer's Creed Shadows (Ubisoft)Atomfall (Revolt)Doom: The Darkish Ages (id Software program/Bethesda Softworks)EA Sports activities FC 26 (EA Canada/EA Romania/EA)South of Midnight (Compulsion Video games/Xbox Sport Studios)

Video games for impression Devour Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia/AP Thomson/Hexacutable)Despelote (Julián Cordero/Sebastián Valbuena/Panic)Misplaced Information: Bloom & Rage (Do not Nod Montreal/Do not Nod)South of Midnight (Compulsion Video games/Xbox Sport Studios)Wanderstop (Ivy Street/Annapurna Interactive)

Finest ongoing Last Fantasy XIV (Sq. Enix)Fortnite (Epic Video games)Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Sport Studios/Sony Interactive Leisure)Marvel Rivals (NetEase Video games)No Man's Sky (Good day Video games)

Finest neighborhood help Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)Last Fantasy XIV (Sq. Enix)Fortnite (Epic Video games)Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Sport Studios/Sony Interactive Leisure)No Man's Sky (Good day Video games)

Finest unbiased sport Absolum (Guard Crush Video games/Supamonks/Dotemu)Ball x Pit (Kenny Solar/Devolver Digital)Blue Prince (Dogubomb/Uncooked Fury)Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)Hades II (Supergiant Video games)Hole Knight: Silksong (Workforce Cherry)

Finest debut indie sport Blue Prince (Dogubomb/Uncooked Fury)Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)Despelote (Julián Cordero/Sebastián Valbuena/Panic)Dispatch (AdHoc Studio)Megabonk (Vedinad)

Finest cell sport Future: Rising (NetEase Video games)Persona 5: The Phantom X (Black Wings Sport Studio/Sega)Sonic Rumble (Rovio Leisure/Sega)Umamusume: Fairly Derby (Cygames Inc.)Wuthering Waves (Kuro Video games)

Finest VR/AR Alien: Rogue Incursion (Survios)Arken Age (VitruviusVR)Ghost City (Fireproof Video games)Marvel's Deadpool VR (Twisted Pixel Video games/Oculus Studios)The Midnight Stroll (MoonHood/Quick Journey Video games)

Finest motion Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios/EA)Doom: The Darkish Ages (id Software program/Bethesda Softworks)Hades II (Supergiant Video games)Ninja Gaiden 4 (Platinum Video games/Workforce Ninja/Xbox Sport Studios)Shinobi: Artwork of Vengeance (Lizardcube/Sega)

Finest motion/journey Demise Stranding 2: On the Seashore (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Leisure)Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Leisure)Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)Hole Knight: Silksong (Workforce Cherry)Cut up Fiction (Hazelight Studios/EA)

Finest RPG Avowed (Obsidian Leisure/Xbox Sport Studios)Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios/Deep SIlver)The Outer Worlds 2 (Obsidian Leisure/Xbox Sport Studios)Monster Hunter Wilds (Capcom)

Finest preventing 2XKO (Riot Video games)Capcom Preventing Assortment 2 (Capcom)Deadly Fury: Metropolis of the Wolves (SNK Company)Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection (Digital Eclipse/Atari)Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)

Finest household Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)LEGO Get together! (SMG Studio/Fictions)LEGO Voyagers (Mild Brick Studios/Annapurna Interactive)Mario Kart World (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (Sonic Workforce/Sega)Cut up Fiction (Hazelight Studios/EA)

Finest Sim/Technique The Alters (11 Bit Studios)FINAL FANTASY TACTICS - The Ivalice Chronicles (Sq. Enix)Jurassic World Evolution 3 (Frontier Developments)Sid Meier's Civilization VII (Firaxis Video games/2K)Tempest Rising (Slipgate Ironworks/3D Realms)Two Level Museum (Two Level Studios/Sega)

Finest sports activities/racing EA Sports activities FC 26 (EA Canada/EA Romania/EA)F1 25 (Codemasters/EA)Mario Kart World (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)Rematch (Sloclap/Kepler Interactive)Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (Sonic Workforce/Sega)

Finest multiplayer Arc Raiders (Embark Studios)Battlefield 6 (Digital Arts)Elden Ring Nightreign (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco Leisure)Peak (Aggro Crab/Landfall)Cut up Fiction (Hazelight/EA)

Finest adaptation A Minecraft Film (Legendary Photos/Mojang/Warner Bros)Satan Might Cry (Studio Mir/Capcom/Netflix)The Final of Us: Season 2 (HBO/PlayStation Productions)Splinter Cell: Deathwatch (FOST Studio/Ubisoft/Netflix)Till Daybreak (Display Gems/PlayStation Productions)

Most anticipated sport 007 First Mild (IO Interactive)Grand Theft Auto VI (Rockstar Video games)Marvel's Wolverine (Insomniac Video games/Sony Interactive Leisure)Resident Evil Requiem (Capcom)The Witcher IV (CD Projekt Crimson)

Content material creator of the 12 months CaedrelKai CenatMoistCr1TiKaLSakura MikoThe Burnt Peanut

Finest Esports sport Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)DOTA 2 (Valve)League of Legends (Riot)Cell Legends: Bang Bang (Moonton)Valorant (Riot)

Finest Esports athlete brawk - Brock Somerhalder (Valorant)Chovy - Jeong Ji-hoon (League of Legends)f0rsakeN - Jason Susanto (Valorant)Kakeru - Kakeru Watanabe (Road Fighter)MenaRD - Saul Leonardo (Road Fighter)Zyw0o - Mathieu Herbaut (Counter-Strike 2)

Finest Esports crew Gen.G - League of LegendsNRG - ValorantTeam Falcons - DOTA 2Team Liquid PH - Cell Legends: Bang BangTeam Vitality - Counter-Strike 2

Gamers' voice Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)Dispatch (AdHoc Studio)Genshin Influence (HoYoverse)Hole Knight: Silksong (Workforce Cherry)Wuthering Waves (Kuro Video games)