French JRPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been nominated for a record-breaking number of awards at The Game Awards, and no one seems more pleasantly surprised than developer Sandfall Interactive.
The Game Awards host and producer Geoff Keighley explains the situation on Twitter, with a graphic listing the most-nominated games for the 2025 Awards.
Two-player co-op adventure Split Fiction received four nominations, platformer paradise Hollow Knight: Silksong got five, Olympic roguelike Hades 2 received six, while sequels Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yotei were tied for seven nominations. But Expedition 33 "is the most nominated game in TGA history with 12 nominations," says Keighley.
The baguettes-and-bad-guys debut title from Sandfall is up for coveted Game of the Year consideration, as well as other major categories like Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, and – more contentiously – Best Independent Game and Best Debut Indie Game.
While it is undeniably a debut game, Expedition 33 benefited from hundreds of outsourced developers and, presumably, a considerable budget to make that happen, leading some folks to put it in the AA bucket over indie, but I digress.
Sandfall is grateful in any case. "What a privilege to be nominated, not only for 2025 GAME OF THE YEAR, but also TWELVE??!! TOTAL NOMINATIONS," the developer shares on Twitter.
"There are so many deserving, precious games from this year, and to be nominated among them makes us SO SO very whee.
"THANK YOU!!"
As Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 gets snubbed at the 2026 Grammys, Assassin's Creed and Journey composer says he'd "happily trade places" with the RPG.
