Expedition 33 Awarded by the President of France

French President Emmanuel Macron has praised Sandfall Interactive for its work with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 after the critically acclaimed RPG swept The Game Awards 2025. However, his message drew criticism from some fans, who recalled Macron's previous statements about blaming real-life violence on video games and accused him of using Clair Obscur: Expedition 33s historic win to score political points.

Ahead of the event on December 11, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 made history with 12 TGA 2025 nominations spanning 10 categories. It ended up winning nine of these, but just missed out on Best Audio Design, which went to Battlefield 6. As such, Sandfall's turn-based RPG won 30% of all TGA 2025 awards, securing an unprecedented draw for a French production at the Los Angeles ceremony.

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10/10 GOTY Winner Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Just Shadow Released Brand New Content You Can Play Right Now

Sandfall Interactive capped off an incredible run at The Game Awards 2025 by immediately announcing new content for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

French President Congratulates Sandfall After Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Sweeps The Game Awards

In an Instagram post after the show on December 11, Emmanuel Macron congratulated Sandfall Interactive on its sweep, calling it a “historic first” and “a great pride for Montpellier and for France.” This was not the first time the French president recognized the award-winning title; Macron also praised Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in early May 2025, after the game had already gained significant commercial momentum and reviewer acclaim.

While some Instagram users joined Macron in expressing congratulations and national pride, others questioned the sincerity of his comments. Among the most popular responses to his December 12 post were references to a July 2023 press conference during which the French president controversially accused video games of inciting real-life violence. That statement was part of Macron's comments on the widespread riots sparked by the police killing of Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old French citizen of Algerian and Moroccan descent, who was shot at point blank range during a routine traffic stop in June 2023. The killing sparked protests in Paris, with protesters blaming the police.

“It sometimes feels like some of them are experiencing, on the street, the video games that have intoxicated them,” Macron said at the 2023 press conference, referring to the rioters. He later walked back that comment, saying he wasn't trying to be critical of the industry as a whole. “Video games are a culture, an entertainment, a spectacle,” the head of France said in September 2023, noting that he was only criticizing the gamification of violence rather than the medium itself. Nonetheless, some Instagram users continued to refer to his previous comments while accusing him of using Clair Obscur: Expedition 33s success in scoring political points rather than offering a sincere message of support.

Game Awards winners: Games with the most awards each year

The “historic first” label Macron used to describe Sandfall Interactive's debut title is accurate in more ways than one. In addition to becoming the first French game to win the top honor at the ceremony, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 broke a five-year-old record The last of us part 2and earns the award for the most awarded game in TGA history with nine wins. During the December 11 event, Sandfall shadow released its previously announced free DLC for the game, adding a new location called Versos Drafts and an elaborate photo mode, among several other novelties.

Released

April 24, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Developer

Sandfall Interactive

Publisher

Kepler Interactive