- The Champion: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 wins Game of the Year and four other major categories.
- The Legacy: It sets a new record for the most GOTY wins in a single year, surpassing Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Last of Us Part II.
- Innovation: Blue Prince takes home two awards for Design and Innovation.
- Pioneers: Don Daglow and the late Rebecca Ann Heineman honored with Lifetime Achievement and Ambassador awards.
The 26th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) took place on March 12, 2026, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Following the previous night’s IGF Awards, the industry’s eyes remained fixed on the stage as the year’s most celebrated titles were honored by the global developer community.
The night belonged to Sandfall Interactive and Kepler Interactive, whose dark fantasy RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 dominated the ceremony. The game secured five awards: Game of the Year, Best Debut, Best Visual Art, Best Narrative, and Best Audio.
A Vision Born from Passion
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was released on April 24, 2025. The project began in 2019 as a personal vision of Guillaume Broche, a former Ubisoft employee who founded Sandfall Interactive during the 2020 pandemic.
Developed in Paris and Montpellier, the Unreal Engine 5-powered title was born from a desire to bring high-quality, turn-based RPGs back to the forefront—a genre often sidelined by AAA studios in favor of action-heavy combat. The gamble paid off: the game sold 3.3 million copies within its first month and has since surpassed 5 million units. On Steam, it maintains an “Overwhelmingly Positive” (95%) rating with over 100,000 reviews.
Dominating the 2025 Award Season
With its GDCA victory, Expedition 33 has completed one of the most successful award runs in gaming history.
- The Game Awards 2025: Record-breaking 13 nominations and 9 wins.
- D.I.C.E. Awards: 5 wins.
- Golden Joystick Awards: 7 wins.
The game has now officially surpassed the GOTY records previously held by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and The Last of Us Part II, cementing its place as a cultural milestone. The franchise is already expanding, with a live-action adaptation currently in development by Story Kitchen.
[Related Article: A New History of Indie Games: The Potential Proven by ‘Clair Obscur’]
Official website: https://www.expedition33.com/
Stove Page: https://store.onstove.com/ko/games/5102
Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1903340/
Two-time Winner ‘Blue Prince’: The Power of an Original Puzzle Adventure
The surreal puzzle adventure Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury) was the night’s other multi-award winner. It took home the Innovation Award and Best Design for its ever-shifting mansion and creative spatial puzzles.
Steam Store Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1569580/Blue_Prince/
Social Impact: ‘Consume Me’ – From IGF to GDCA
‘Consume Me,’ developed by independent developer Jenny Jiao Hsia, won the Social Impact award.
‘Consume Me’ is a narrative-based indie game that progresses through the story by experiencing the daily life, emotions, and social pressures of adolescence via various mini-games and interactions.
It won the 2025 Grand Prize at the 28th IGF Awards held the previous day as a co-developed work with AP Thompson, and with this GDCA Social Impact award, it has garnered attention at both major indie game awards ceremonies and demonstrated a strong presence.
Steam Store Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2359120/Consume_Me/
Audience Award: ‘and Roger’ – 1st Place in Fan Vote
The Audience Award, determined by a public vote, went to and Roger (TearyHand Studio / Kodansha). The emotional narrative game, which explores the lives of a family living with dementia, previously won the Grand Prix at the Taipei Game Show.
Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3308870/and_Roger/
Best Technology: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Technical and Social Achievements
- Best Technology: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment).
- Social Impact Award: Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia), a narrative game exploring the social pressures of adolescence.
Steam Store Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3280350/DEATH_STRANDING_2_ON_THE_BEACH/
Honoring Industry Legends
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Don Daglow, an Emmy-winning designer with a 55-year career and over 100 titles, including the first interactive baseball game (BASBAL) and the first graphical MMORPG (Neverwinter Nights).
- Ambassador Award: Rebecca Ann Heineman (1963–2025), honored posthumously for her 45-year career as a pioneering developer, the first national video game tournament champion, and a tireless advocate for LGBTQ+ representation and accessibility.
GDCA 2026: Full Winners Gallery
| Category | Winner | Developer / Publisher |
| Game of the Year | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Sandfall / Kepler |
| Best Debut | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Sandfall / Kepler |
| Best Visual Art | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Sandfall / Kepler |
| Best Narrative | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Sandfall / Kepler |
| Best Audio | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Sandfall / Kepler |
| Best Design | Blue Prince | Dogubomb / Raw Fury |
| Innovation Award | Blue Prince | Dogubomb / Raw Fury |
| Best Technology | Death Stranding 2: On the Beach | Kojima Productions / Sony |
| Social Impact | Consume Me | Jenny Jiao Hsia |
| Audience Award | and Roger | TearyHand / Kodansha |
