Until you lived below a rock, you’d know that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was simply 2025’s most acclaimed sport of the year–and not simply because it took dwelling the Sport of the Yr trophy (alongside being named GameSpot’s GOTY). Regardless of the huge reputation and success of the JRPG, developer Sandfall Interactive was stunned by the reception the sport acquired, going so far as saying the staff “underestimated” simply how a lot Clair Obscur’s facet content material would resonate with audiences.
Chatting with Edge Magazine for its February 2026 challenge (through GamesRadar), lead sport designer Michel Nohra defined that the elective goals within the game–the extra bosses, minigames, facet quests, and more–were way more fashionable than the staff initially thought.
Now Taking part in: Why Clair Obscur Expedition 33 Is GameSpot’s Sport of the Yr 2025
“Typically, individuals do not need to end the sport, in order that they do all of the facet content material earlier than ending it, as a result of as soon as the story is over, you are often much less motivated to do the facet content material,” Nohra mentioned. “And that is one thing I underestimated, which made individuals [who] needed a difficult finish boss combat really feel a bit disillusioned. I do not remorse doing it the way in which we did it, however [we could have] had extra clarification about your selection [in Act 3].”
Lead programmer Tom Guillermin echoed Nohra’s sentiment, saying it was a “shock” that so many gamers opted to do and see every little thing Clair Obscur needed to provide fairly than simply mainlining the sport’s story. Guillermin chalked this as much as “humility,” because the builders did not suppose that they had a success on their palms.
“We weren’t positive if our sport was going to be that good,” Guillermin says. “And if it isn’t, individuals may need to see the story, and go on to the tip of the story. So it was a shock for us [that] individuals had been doing each single factor there may be to do within the sport earlier than going to the ultimate dungeon. We’re completely happy about that, however we did not see it coming.”
If there was one remorse, Nohra mentioned the staff might’ve been clearer in regards to the supposed issue for the ultimate boss, explaining that gamers ought to’ve gone to “beat it down now” as a substitute of overleveling with facet content material. That did not affect the opinions on the sport, although, as Clair Obscur reviewed very nicely and broke The Sport Awards’ trophy-snatching file with 9 awards.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 joins a rising checklist of GOTY winners that features Baldur’s Gate 3, God of Battle, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The sport has acquired a lot constructive consideration that even France’s president Emmanuel Macron congratulated the staff for representing The Nation of Love as laborious because it did.