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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Sets World Record for Game of the Year Awards, Surpassing Elden Ring - IGN

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has set the world record for most Game of the Year awards, surpassing FromSoftware's Elden Ring.

www.ign.com

Last week, IGN reported that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was once again sweeping award nominations, this time at the Game Developers Choice Awards, where it's been nominated for all but one award, and earlier that same week, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 absolutely dominated the Annual D.I.C.E. Award Nominations along with Ghost of Yotei.

Even with with the BAFTAs, DICE, GDC Awards and more still to go, ResetEra's Angie — who's been keeping an eye on all the nominations and wins — reports that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has clocked up a staggering 436 awards, surpassing prior top-spot-holder, Elden Ring, which has 429. The rest of the top five is rounded out by The Last of Us Part II (326 awards), Baldur's Gate 3 (288), and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (281).

 

[Punished Miku]

Absurd. Good game for sure but this is a bit much.

 

[Topher]

 

[J Required]

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

All because of normie dudebros who never played true Japanese RPGs like Paper Mario and Xenogears. Sad.

 

[ElFenomeno]

 

[adamsapple]

this is neogaf.gif

 

[WoeIsMe]

Congrats(even though it's a 3.5/5 game ), but does it deserve more than Elden Ring?

 

[FoxMcChief]

Well deserved.

 

[GymWolf]

Worth, even to just watch fromsoft fans squirm a little.

 

[KyoZz]

100% deserved. Let the tears of the haters flow

 

[FoxMcChief]

So this is only because of Game Pass.

 

[Mayar]

Well, here's finally a topic that will be a pleasure to watch all evening.

 

[Last Hearth]

Why do we need 436 awards for one industry? Even Hollywood doesn't self congratulate this much.

 

[calico]

Firmly in the conversation for the greatest game of all time.

 

[Madflavor]

Some quick stats:

Awards Won

1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - 436+
2. Elden Ring (FromSoftware) - 435*
3. The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog) - 326
4. Baldur's Gate III (Larian Studios) - 288
5. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red) - 281

Total Game of the Year awards per year

• 2025 - 621 (so far)
• 2024 - 529
• 2023 - 537
• 2022 - 615
• 2021 - 443
• 2020 - 648

Most Players Choice awards:

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Readers' Choice: 125
The Last of Us Part II - Readers' Choice: 115
Elden Ring - Readers' Choice: 97
Baldur's Gate III - Reader's Choice: 89
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Reader's Choice: 88


Game of the Year winners by percenatge of wins out of the total awards given on their respective year:

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 87%
Street Fighter II (SNES) - 80%
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - 70%
Elden Ring - 70%
Sonic the Hedgehog - 63%

 

[Memati187]

Yeah, fuck elden ring

 

[peronmls]

Why is it so easy to impress morons now?

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

JRPG dorks 1 year ago: "WOW what's this upcoming Clair Obscur game? Turn based battles, world map, great graphics, this looks amazing! This is what I wish Final Fantasy 16 would've been. Why, maybe if it's a hit, it'll send the message to the whole industry that we love turn based games!"

— Game becomes a massive commercial and critical (both professional and user scores) success and wins practically every GotY award in existence.

JRPG dorks now: "meh, I liked JRPGs before they were cool."

 

[Arsic]

I love c33. It's likely my game of the generation.

However when I look at the overall grand picture of gaming I don't think for many it should be surpassing a game like Elden Ring. Even I debate if ER is maybe my game of the generation still but recency bias is a tough thing to beat.

Clair and ER do suffer in similar ways like being asset dumps and recycling geometry all over. ER on console still suffers from severe pop in.

Clair for me is a one and done game but ER I've come back to many times. Even just this week I started a new run for funsies.

I do think we will look back on Clair similarly to halo infinite winning GOTY. Not as bad of regret but I do think we blew this game out of the stratosphere.

All I hope from Clair being a success is we get more mature turn based jrpgs that aren't anime dumpster fires.

 

[Raven117]

All I hope from Clair being a success is we get more mature turn based jrpgs that aren't anime dumpster fires.

Good gawd, I hope so.

 

[MagnesD3]

Journalists love Narrative and even though ER has excellent narrative it isnt spoonfed to ya. ER is likely the Game of All Time which is crazy to say but its probably true.

All because of normie dudebros who never played true Japanese RPGs like Paper Mario and Xenogears. Sad.

Yeah I laugh because paper mario did alot of this in the year 2000 lol.

 

[R6Rider]

It will never stop being funny when people get mad about this. Be it E33 or other games.

 

[SantaC]

Isnt this basically a Ubisoft game? How did this happen

 

[Lokaum D+]

for those who come after

 

[touchfuzzy]

It's a dumb record that will continue to be broken because there's more and more websites and publications handing them out all the time. Like, if there was 1000 outlets giving GOTY awards in 1996 do you really think Super Mario 64 wouldn't have got like 800-900 of them? Or Ocarina of Time? Or Super Mario Bros. in 1985? Lol.

 

[Senua]

Why is it so easy to impress morons now?

 

[proandrad]

Proof that 99% of people don't give a shit about AI use if the game is good.

 

[Mercador]

E33 is a great game, the best FF I've played since FFXII but it's not Elden Ring nor BG3. What I read is that they were not a lot of great games last year but I'm still surprised KCD2 got nothing.

 

[Black_Stride]

Isnt this basically a Ubisoft game? How did this happen

Ubi being open world barfiller games this is almost the exact opposite of a Ubisoft game.

Ubi games get fun when you actually ignore all the collectathon stuff and just enjoy the worlds.

This game basically has no hand holding, side quests exist but you could easily miss that you even have a side quest if you aint paying attention......worse still you could know youve got a side quest going to the area to complete it and get your ass beat bad bad badly.

Ive basically had to start playing this game like im trying to get a Pure Platinum in Bayonetta.......just never get hit and focus on dealing out as much damage as possible.
Cuz I actually forget that ive got a quest and I keep losing my notes paper which reminds me what im focusing on.

 

[Nvzman]

The game deserves it on the basis of it being a giant fuck you to the industry. Same with the It Takes Two guy ("Fuck the Oscars!"), they made a fun game for everyone where gameplay mattered more than social commentary or deep themes or whatever retarded shit TLOU2 and the other industry giants were trying so desperately to achieve. Enough with the fart huffing, make your fucking game fun, and you don't need 300+ people to do it.

 

[Senua]

Isnt this basically a Ubisoft game? How did this happen

How did you come to that conclusion

 

[GooseMan69]

Why is it so easy to impress morons now?

That's what I was asking in 2022 when Elden Ring kept winning for it's supposedly innovative open world even though it was full of copy pasta dungeons and the reward for exploring was usually just some shitty item I would never use.

 

[Danjin44]

Good game but for me it never was "greatest thing ever" and definitely wasn't my GOTY for 2025.

 

[ByWatterson]

JRPG dorks 1 year ago: "WOW what's this upcoming Clair Obscur game? Turn based battles, world map, great graphics, this looks amazing! This is what I wish Final Fantasy 16 would've been. Why, maybe if it's a hit, it'll send the message to the whole industry that we love turn based games!"

— Game becomes a massive commercial and critical (both professional and user scores) success and wins practically every GotY award in existence.

JRPG dorks now: "meh, I liked JRPGs before they were cool."

"Yeah, man. Like Expedition 33 just sold out man. It's like it doesn't even get us anymore."

 

[MiguelItUp]

This is wild. I've accepted that the game just isn't for me, and that's fine. But from folks I personally know that played it and loved it, they said great things about it. But nothing to this level, lol. This is pretty insane.

Yeah, fuck elden ring

 

[ByWatterson]

Isnt this basically a Ubisoft game? How did this happen

It's literally the exact opposite

 

[darrylgorn]

E33 better than Elden Ring confirmed.

Take that souls fans.

 

[Bojji]

Sony/Nintendo fanboys and weebs on suicide watch.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

The game deserves it on the basis of it being a giant fuck you to the industry. Same with the It Takes Two guy ("Fuck the Oscars!"), they made a fun game for everyone where gameplay mattered more than social commentary or deep themes or whatever retarded shit TLOU2 and the other industry giants were trying so desperately to achieve. Enough with the fart huffing, make your fucking game fun, and you don't need 300+ people to do it.

I see it as kind of a fuck you to Square Enix and other established JRPG studios as well.

It's the "Final Fantasy for grown ups" I used to imagine Squaresoft would be making someday. It shows you can make a JRPG with characters who talk and act like adults with functioning brains, with great writing that respects the audience's intelligence, with decent pacing/no bloat, and without the same tired shounen anime tropes out the ass.

I WISH E33 weren't so remarkable in those regards. It took some no-name French startup to do what Square Enix couldn't or wouldn't, and they were handsomely rewarded for it. They should feel embarrassed.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Hark... do you hear it? The tolling of a bell for a dream deferred.

They speak of 'Expedition 33' in hushed, gilded tones—a new star ascending while our own Shattering grows cold in the memory of the masses. To think... that the Lands Between, once the very crucible of our collective wonder, should be cast into the shade by a mere newcomer.

Is this the fate of all we hold dear? To be measured by the weight of trinkets and the fickle tally of judges who have never tasted the rot of Caelid or felt the sting of a blade forged in the Haligtree? We traversed the fog, braved the Frenzied Flame, and mended the very fabric of existence... only to find the world has moved its gaze to a different horizon.

Ah, but such is the cycle of the Grace. The old gods must wither so that the new may sprout from their remains. It is a bitter draught to swallow—to see our Golden Order eclipsed.

Perhaps we are all just shades now, wandering a world that has already forgotten the name of its Elden Lord.

 

[mèx]

Expedition 33
Elden Ring
The Last of Us Part 2

The most mid top 3 imaginable, damn.

 

[Gamer79]

I dont get the hype. Bought Expedition 33 on steam and played for a dozen hours. Weird story, ok battle system, just overall a good to decent game. No where near the hype. Just a good game in a sea of bad ones.

 

[Paulistano]

This just prove that most people don't have it's own opinion when the media praises it they follow like sheep, the game is ok, but I don't think it's that good.

 

[Rockondevil]

E33 was amazing and so was Elden Ring.
Both easily deserved and I don't get the tears about it.

 

[Zacfoldor]

E33 was amazing and so was Elden Ring.
Both easily deserved and I don't get the tears about it.

 

[SantaC]

How did you come to that conclusion

Made by the French and people working at ubi before?

 

[Ristifer]

Sony/Nintendo fanboys and weebs on suicide watch.

So, all of gaf?

 

[DeepEnigma]

So, all of gaf?