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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Sweeps Golden Joystick Awards With Six Wins, Here's Full Winners List

The 43rd Annual Golden Joystick Awards wrapped up in London today, and one game stood above the rest: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The ambitious RPG from Sandfall Interactive dominated the ceremony with six wins, including the coveted Ultimate Game of the Year.


Golden Joystick Awards 2025: Clair Obscur Crowned Ultimate Game of the Year, kinda GOTY.
Golden Joystick Awards 2025: Clair Obscur Crowned Ultimate Game of the Year | Image via GJA

The Golden Joysticks remain one of the few major award shows where fans hold most of the voting power. Out of the 24 categories, only four, Streamers’ Choice, Breakthrough, Critics’ Choice, and Lifetime Achievement, are decided by a panel of critics and creators. That means the audience had the final say in crowning Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as the standout title of 2025.


Clair Obscur’s Big Wins

Sandfall Interactive’s breakout hit didn’t just win GOTY; it swept across multiple categories:

  • Ultimate Game of the Year

  • Best Storytelling

  • Best Visual Design

  • Best Soundtrack

  • Best Lead Performer (Jennifer English as Maelle)

  • Best Supporting Performer (Ben Starr as Verso)


To top it off, Sandfall Interactive itself was named Studio of the Year, cementing the developer’s place among the industry’s elite.


All the winners from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 team.
All the winners from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 team | Image: Sandfall

Runners-Up With Two Wins Each

While Clair Obscur stole the spotlight, several other titles managed to secure two awards each:

  • Hollow Knight: Silksong – PC Game of the Year, Best Indie Game (Self-Published)

  • Ghost of Yōtei – Console Game of the Year, Best Audio Design

  • PEAK – Best Multiplayer Game, Streamers’ Choice

  • Grand Theft Auto VI – Most Wanted Game, Best Game Trailer


All Winners of the 2025 Golden Joystick Awards

Game Awards

Ultimate Game of the Year

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (WINNER)

  • Split Fiction

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Peak

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

  • Blue Prince

  • Silent Hill f

  • Ghost of Yotei

  • Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

  • Hades 2

  • Donkey Kong Bananza

  • Hollow Knight: Silksong


Best Storytelling

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (WINNER)

  • SILENT HILL f

  • Blue Prince

  • Mafia: The Old Country

  • Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

  • The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy


Best Visual Design

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (WINNER)

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • The Midnight Walk

  • Ghost of Yōtei

  • Sword of the Sea

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows


Best Audio Design

  • Ghost of Yōtei (WINNER)

  • Battlefield 6

  • Donkey Kong Bananza

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Two Point Museum

  • Cronos: The New Dawn


Best Soundtrack

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (WINNER)

  • South of Midnight

  • SILENT HILL f

  • Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream

  • DELTARUNE

  • Sword of the Sea


Best Multiplayer Game

  • PEAK (WINNER)

  • Battlefield 6

  • ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN

  • Split Fiction

  • Mario Kart World

  • REMATCH


Best Game Expansion

  • Lies of P: Overture (WINNER)

  • Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants

  • No Man’s Sky: Voyagers

  • Atomfall Story Expansion Pack: The Red Strain

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows – Claws of Awaji

  • Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest


Best Indie Game – Self-Published

  • Hollow Knight: Silksong (WINNER)

  • Hades II

  • Sword of the Sea

  • PEAK

  • Keep Driving

  • Spilled!

  • Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders

  • DELTARUNE

  • Promise Mascot Agency

  • Consume Me


Best Indie Game

  • Blue Prince (WINNER)

  • Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

  • Wanderstop

  • Skin Deep

  • despelote

  • Herdling

  • Abiotic Factor

  • Baby Steps

  • Caves of Qud

  • Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor


Best Early Access Game

  • R.E.P.O. (WINNER)

  • Grounded 2

  • Schedule I

  • 9 Kings

  • skate.

  • White Knuckle


Best Remake / Remaster

  • The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (WINNER)

  • METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER

  • Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter

  • The Talos Principle: Reawakened

  • Gears of War: Reloaded

  • Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4


PC Game of the Year

  • Hollow Knight: Silksong (WINNER)

  • The Alters

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

  • PEAK

  • Abiotic Factor

  • Dune: Awakening


Console Game of the Year

  • Ghost of Yōtei (WINNER)

  • Donkey Kong Bananza

  • Monster Hunter Wilds

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

  • Mario Kart World


Most Wanted Game

  • Grand Theft Auto VI (WINNER)

  • Resident Evil Requiem

  • The Witcher 4

  • Black Myth: Zhong Kui

  • LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Night

  • 007 First Light

  • EXODUS

  • Subnautica 2

  • Light No Fire

  • The Expanse: Osiris Reborn

  • Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet

  • SAROS

  • The Blood of Dawnwalker

  • Crimson Desert

  • KINGDOM HEARTS IV

  • Marvel’s Wolverine

  • Hell Let Loose: Vietnam

  • OD – KNOCK

  • Onimusha: Way of the Sword

  • Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy


Still Playing Award – Mobile

  • Pokémon GO (WINNER)

  • Call of Duty: Mobile

  • Subway Surfers

  • Clash Royale

  • Honkai: Star Rail

  • Genshin Impact

  • Zenless Zone Zero

  • Roblox

  • Free Fire

  • PUBG MOBILE


Still Playing Award – PC and Console

  • Minecraft (WINNER)

  • Dead by Daylight

  • HELLDIVERS 2

  • NARAKA: BLADEPOINT

  • Satisfactory

  • Call of Duty: Warzone

  • Marvel Rivals

  • Fortnite

  • Apex Legends

  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege X

  • GTA Online

  • Warframe


Performance & Media Awards

Best Lead Performer

  • Jennifer English – Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (WINNER)

  • Troy Baker – Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

  • Tom McKay – Henry in Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

  • Alex Jordan – Jan Dolski in The Alters

  • Erika Ishii – Atsu in Ghost of Yōtei

  • Adriyan Rae – Hazel in South of Midnight


Best Supporting Performer

  • Ben Starr – Verso in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (WINNER)

  • Troy Baker – Higgs Monaghan in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Jim High – Erik in Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

  • Lucy Griffiths – Alva in Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream

  • Logan Cunningham – Hades II

  • Marios Gavrilis – Emmerich Voss in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle


Best Game Adaptation

  • Arcane Season 2 (Netflix) (WINNER)

  • Devil May Cry (Netflix)

  • The Last of Us Season 2 (HBO)

  • A Minecraft Movie (Warner Bros. Pictures)

  • Secret Level (Prime Video)

  • Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Paramount Pictures)


Best Game Trailer

  • Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 2 (WINNER)

  • Battlefield 6: Official Launch Live Action Trailer

  • Rhythm Doctor – Official Release Date Trailer

  • The Expanse: Osiris Reborn – Announcement Trailer

  • ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN – Announcement Trailer

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Official CGI Trailer – Live a Life Medieval


Studio, Hardware & Special Awards

Studio of the Year

  • Sandfall Interactive (WINNER)

  • Team Cherry

  • Aggro Crab and Landfall

  • Bloober Team

  • Sloclap

  • Rebellion


Best Gaming Hardware

  • AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (WINNER)

  • Nintendo Switch 2

  • Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller

  • WD_BLACK SN8100 NVMe SSD

  • Elgato Facecam 4K

  • Razer Blade 16


Streamer’s Choice

  • PEAK


Breakthrough Award

  • Schedule I 


Critic’s Choice

  • Donkey Kong Bananza


Hall of Fame Inductee

  • The Sims


Now all eyes are on the upcoming The Game Awards scheduled for December 11. Voting has already started, and Clair Obscur dominated the nominee list with 12 nominations, including Game of the Year. Whether it will repeat the success of the Golden Joystick Awards, we’ll soon find out.

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