Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is game of the year

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been named recreation of the yr in a record-breaking haul at this yr’s Sport Awards.

The French-developed role-playing recreation (RPG) cleaned up in 9 of the ten classes it was up for, with additional wins in greatest narrative, greatest music and greatest efficiency.

It fended off competitors from Loss of life Stranding 2, Nintendo platformer Donkey Kong Bananza, indie video games Hole Knight: Silksong and Hades 2, and medieval journey Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 to assert the highest prize.

Through the ceremony in Los Angeles, gamers additionally received their first glimpses of two new Tomb Raider video games, sequel Management Resonant and a brand new Star Wars role-playing recreation.

Clair Obscur is ready in a world the place a supernatural being referred to as The Paintress prevents the inhabitants from rising previous a sure age.

The sport, which tells the story of a bunch of adventurers on a quest to destroy The Paintress, was praised for its emotional narrative and use of old-school, turn-based battles.

Gamers have been additionally received over by the story of developer Sandfall Interactive, shaped by a bunch of staff who left gaming giant Ubisoft to make their dream project.

Accepting the sport of the yr award, director Guillaume Broche – sporting a purple beret and striped t-shirt in a nod to the sport’s sturdy French id – mentioned the yr had been a “bizarre timeline” for the studio as he thanked his staff.

He additionally prolonged due to the “unsung heroes” of the trade – “the individuals who make tutorials on YouTube on tips on how to make a recreation, as a result of we had no concept tips on how to make one earlier than”.

Clair Obscur was the recent favorite going into the awards, and the most-nominated recreation within the ceremony’s historical past with a complete of 12 nods.

Its composer Lorien Testard received the award for greatest rating and music.

It was the debut venture for the musician, who was found after he posted a set of home made online game music to his SoundCloud account.

Clair Obscur additionally romped to victory in the perfect role-playing recreation, greatest impartial recreation and greatest debut indie recreation classes.

Three of its nominations have been in a single class – greatest efficiency – and actress Jennifer English claimed the prize over co-stars Charlie Cox and Ben Starr for her function as Maelle.

The actress, who has usually spoken about having ADHD, devoted the award “to each neurodivergent particular person watching”.

Clair Obscur solely missed out on two awards it was up for.

Battlefield 6 received greatest audio design, whereas open-world motion RPG Wuthering Waves was a stunning winner within the fan-voted Participant’s Voice class.

Greatest recreation rival Donkey Kong Bananza received the household recreation award, and on-line shooter Arc Raiders received the perfect multiplayer prize.

Sequel Hole Knight: Silksong was named greatest action-adventure, whereas anime-inspired horse racing recreation Umamusume: Fairly Derby was named greatest cellular recreation.

And the ceremony’s second honorary Sport Changer award, first launched final yr, went to Ladies Make Video games.

The non-profit group encourages ladies and younger girls to pursue careers in video video games, and runs summer time camps to show programming and design abilities.

No Sport Awards ceremony could be full with out the odd A-lister look, and this yr was no totally different.

Stranger Issues star David Harbour took to the stage to announce a brand new Complete Conflict: Warhammer 40K technique recreation, and US singer Lenny Kravitz formally revealed his villainous function within the upcoming James Bond recreation 007: First Gentle.

Regardless of being known as the “Oscars of gaming”, the Sport Awards, hosted by its founder Geoff Keighley, is a combination of conventional ceremony and trailer showcase.

Among the video games trade’s greatest builders will give the primary take a look at upcoming main titles through the present, and it is thought that this is among the primary causes many followers tune in.

One of many night time’s greatest bulletins was RPG Divinity from Larian Studios, the maker of 2023 recreation of the yr Baldur’s Gate 3.

The developer had teased the reveal with a mysterious statue which first appeared within the Californian desert.

A remake of the unique Tomb Raider recreation had additionally been leaked, however the announcement of a second, model new entry starring Lara Croft got here as a shock.

Star Wars followers received a glimpse at two new video games – Destiny of the Previous Republic, a long-awaited successor to 2004’s beloved Knights of the Previous Republic, and Galactic Racer, developed by UK-based studio Fuse Video games.

The forged of the brand new Road Fighter film adaptation, except rapper 50 Cent, launched its first trailer.

And followers additionally noticed new footage from the upcoming Resident Evil 9, confirming the looks of fan-favourite character Leon Kennedy, and PS5 shooter Saros.

The Sport Awards has been criticised prior to now for prioritising promoting over awards, with successful speeches being minimize quick and on-stage shows being absent in some classes.

There was reward of 2024’s present for going some technique to tackle criticisms, however builders have continued to name on organiser Geoff Keighley to higher acknowledge issues within the trade, such because the excessive variety of job losses in recent times.

This yr, there have been complaints concerning the awards abandoning its Future Class scheme – an initiative based in 2020 to focus on “rising stars” in video video games.

It was final run in 2023, when present and former members of the group signed an open letter urging the awards to deal with the Israel-Gaza warfare.

Within the run-up to this yr’s nominations, after it was confirmed Future Class wouldn’t return, alumni accused the scheme of tokenism and never doing sufficient to assist them construct contacts.

Final yr, the ceremony gave out a brand new recreation changer award to Amir Satvat, for his work to assist laid-off builders discover jobs.

BBC Newsbeat has approached organisers for remark.

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