When the Game Awards stage dimmed and the trophy for Game of the Year sat in the spotlight, it wasn’t a familiar AAA logo that walked up to accept it. It was Sandfall Interactive — a small French team behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — and with nine wins, the game turned what could have been a standard awards night into a story about an indie upset that felt, oddly, inevitable.
Clair Obscur’s dominance
Clair Obscur didn’t just claim Game of the Year; it swept across categories that usually separate ‘indie’ from ‘big studio’ fare. The title won Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Role-Playing Game, Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, Best Score & Music, Best Performance (Jennifer English), and Best Game of the Year — nine trophies in all. That tally breaks the previous record and made the game the most awarded in The Game Awards’ history.
There are two ways to read that result. One is celebratory: a small studio delivered a widescreen, highly polished experience that resonated with critics, players, and the voting jury. The other is contextual: 2025’s release calendar had gaps — major tentpoles like Grand Theft Auto VI were delayed — creating an opening for standout independent work to occupy the cultural center. Both readings are true, and together they suggest the industry may be more open to mid‑sized successes than it was a few years ago.
Why this matters beyond trophies
Clair Obscur’s sweep matters because it shows smaller teams can compete on the same canvases as traditionally bigger-budget fare. The game’s cross-category wins underline how production values, storytelling and musical craft are now accessible to studios outside the usual power players. That said, the win isn’t a sign that big-budget blockbusters are out — it’s evidence the middle ground has room to breathe.
A few other awards worth noting: DOOM: The Dark Ages won Innovation in Accessibility, South of Midnight took Games for Impact, and ARC Raiders — which launched earlier this year — won Best Multiplayer. (You can read more about ARC Raiders’ release and technical features in our coverage of its launch.)(/news/arc-raiders-launch-dlss4-embark)
Trailers, sequels and surprises: the reveal side of the night
The Game Awards has become as famous for its announcements as for its trophies, and 2025 delivered a stack of them. Blizzard showed Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred, a major expansion that raises the level cap, reworks skill trees, adds a Paladin class, and sets a new campaign against Mephisto in the frozen reaches of Skovos — the expansion is slated for April 28, 2026. If you want the quick explainer and dates, we’ve rounded up the expansion details here.(/news/diablo-iv-lord-of-hatred)
Remedy announced Control Resonant, taking the fight out of the Oldest House and into a paranormal Manhattan that follows Dylan Faden. Frictional — the studio behind Amnesia and Soma — revealed Ontos, a sci-fi spiritual successor to Soma with a disturbingly effective trailer. Tomb Raider fans got two surprises: Catalyst, a new Lara Croft adventure, and Legacy of Atlantis, a full remake of the 1996 original.
Other highlights: a glossy reveal for Casey Hudson’s Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, the return of Divinity from Larian in a new form, Housemarque’s shooter Saros getting a release window, and a parade of smaller, curious indies — everything from a sheep‑herding sim to a neon music shooter.
What the mix of awards and reveals tells us
Two takeaways stood out from the night. First: quality storytelling and distinctive design continue to punch above their weight in awards conversations. Clair Obscur’s fusion of JRPG mechanics, cinematic presentation and culturally specific flavor made it a natural jury favorite once players encountered it.
Second: the ceremonies and stages of the industry are evolving into hybrid spaces — part awards, part platform for announcements. That blend means the show can elevate a breakout indie and still function as a launchpad for big-budget expansions and franchise reinventions.
A small, meaningful shift
Beyond the hardware fights and publisher tallies, the most interesting trend is the perception shift. A debut studio and a relatively new independent publisher can now walk away with the most-coveted prize and change the tone of the year-end conversation. Whether that becomes a trend or a reset depends on what 2026 delivers — if big sequels like GTA VI arrive on schedule, the landscape may recalibrate. If not, the success story of Sandfall and Kepler could become the blueprint for other mid‑sized teams aiming to carve out bright, durable spaces between indie and AAA.
If you missed the show or want details on specific reveals, our coverage includes deeper looks at some of the games shown tonight, and we’ll continue tracking release dates and playable windows as studios announce them. For now: expect more remakes, more bold indie moves, and a few more surprises in the months to come — the industry, apparently, isn’t done surprising us.
PlayStation 5 Pro owners and anyone thinking about hardware ahead of next‑year launches should keep an eye on the platforms these new and expanding titles target — many will be cross‑gen or PC first, but a few are clearly aimed at next‑gen audiences. For a taste of where multiplayer is heading and the tech behind it, Arc Raiders is a good case study.(/news/arc-raiders-launch-dlss4-embark)