The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, has shared a message congratulating Sandfall Interactive on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Game of the Year, calling it a “historic first.”
To literally no one's surprise, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 absolutely swept The Game Awards a few nights ago. It won almost every single award it was up for, and even ended up walking away with the ultimate Game of the Year crown, beating out Donkey Kong Bananza, Silksong, Hades 2 and more.
It's a huge achievement for a developer's first game (and one with a relatively small budget, too), and the entire world has celebrated Clair Obscur's overwhelming success. This even applies to the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, who took the time to share a congratulatory message on Instagram.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Game of the Year Victory is celebrated by the President of France
“For generations to come and those who follow”
As reported by Eurogamer, Macron shared the announcement on his Instagram yesterday following Clair Obscur's ultimate Game of the Year crowning at The Game Awards. In the message, Macron calls the victory a “historic first for a French title”, before congratulating Sandfall on the success.
Clair Obscur's Jennifer English is right, Queer Joy is worth pursuing no matter the cost
After winning Best Performance at this year's Golden Joysticks, Jennifer English touched on the importance of queer joy in her life.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has just been named Game of the Year in Los Angeles. A historic first place for a French title. Great pride for Montpellier and for France. Congratulations to the Sandfall Interactive team. – Emmanuel Macron
It is not the first time that Macron has publicly called out Clair Obscur either. Back in May, following the game's launch and its rise as one of the highest-rated games in a long time, Macron called it a “shining example of French audacity and creativity”. Clearly, Macron is a Clair fan.
Although Macron's message appears to be nothing but a positive thing, not many of the comments are taking it. Many of the responses point out the hypocrisy of Macron's message, given that he previously said video games are “poisoning” the minds of young people during the 2023 riots, a statement he later retracted in a later statement.
It is also worth noting that this actually isn't it a historic first for France, as Astro Bot, led by the very French Nicolas Doucet, literally won the game of the year last year.
Even with that backlash, however, gamers still clearly remember what Macron said, as some have even said that his message is “taking advantage” of Clair Obscur's success to boost his image. It's hard to argue given what's been said before, but given how much Macron has praised Sandfall and Clair over the past year, it's clear he's keeping a close eye on the studio.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Released
-
April 24, 2025
- ESRB
-
Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer
-
Sandfall Interactive
- Publisher
-
Kepler Interactive
The Game Awards Pre-Show saved the ceremony from its biggest problem
High expectations often make players sour on the program – but there is a solution.
