French President Congratulates Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on Nine Wins at The Game Awards
- Sagar Mankar
- Dec 14, 2025
- 2 min read
French President Emmanuel Macron has once again congratulated Sandfall Interactive, this time celebrating the studio’s record-breaking success with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 at The Game Awards 2025.
The RPG not only secured Game of the Year but also swept eight other categories, making it a historic night for the French developer.
Macron shared his pride on Instagram, writing, “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has just been named Game of the Year in Los Angeles. A historic first for a French title! Great pride for Montpellier and for France. Congratulations to the Sandfall Interactive team. For future generations and those that follow!”
This isn’t the first time Macron has praised Sandfall Interactive. Back in May, he called the studio’s debut RPG “a shining example of French audacity and creativity.”
It’s a notable change in tone from the president. Back in July 2023, he sparked controversy when he suggested video games had “poisoned” young minds during riots (triggered by the fatal police shooting of a teenager). Macron later clarified that his criticism was directed at how “video game codes had been used by offenders to trivialise violence on social networks,” stressing, “it is this violence that I condemn, not video games.”
He has since spoken positively about the medium, describing it as “a culture, an entertainment, a spectacle” and “a ground for artistic experimentation, a fascinating learning space, mixing all the arts.”
In The Game Awards 2025, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won Game of the Year, Best Narrative, Best Score and Music, Best Art Direction, Best Game Direction, Best RPG, Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Performance for Jennifer English’s portrayal of Maelle. The sweep broke records and placed the title among the most celebrated games in the show’s history.
Source: Eurogamer
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