Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads this year’s games in total nominations for the upcoming Game Developers Choice Awards, the organizers of the GDC Festival of Gaming announced.

Clair Obscur is a finalist in eight categories, including Game of the Year. Other Game of the Year contenders include Blue Prince, Donkey Kong Bananza, Ghost of Yotei, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and Split Fiction.

Developed by Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive, Clair Obscur hit in April 2025 and has gone on to win 334 Game of the Year awards, placing behind just Elden Ring for the most Game of the Year award wins by a single video game.

You can watch the Game Developer Choice Awards live on March 11. The ceremony will be streamed for free on the official GDC Twitch Channel.

Much like the BAFTAs, the GDCAs games are nominated by, voted on, and decided by video game developers. Any game released and publicly available during 2025 is eligible for a free nomination for the 2026 Game Developers Choice Award.

You can find the complete list of nominees and honorable mentions for each category below.

Best Audio

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Rift of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Games / Klei Publishing)
• South of Midnight (Compulsion Games / Xbox Game Studios)

Honorable Mentions: 

ARC Raiders (Embark Studios), Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Doom: The Dark Ages (id Software / Bethesda Softworks), Lumines Arise (Enhance / Monstars Inc.), To a T (uvula LLC / Annapurna Interactive)
 

Best Debut

• BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital)
• Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Dispatch (Adhoc Studio)

Honorable Mentions: 

ARC Raiders (Embark Studios), Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia), Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry), The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy (Too Kyo Games, Media. Vision Inc. / Aniplex), The Roottrees are Dead (Evil Trout Inc.)
 

Best Design
 

• BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital)
• Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)

Honorable Mentions: 

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios / Deep Silver), The Alters (11 Bit Studios)
 

Innovation Award
 

• BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital)
• Baby Steps (Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy / Devolver Digital)
• Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Honorable Mentions: 

CloverPit (Panik Arcade / Future Friends Games), Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia), REPO (Semiwork Studios), Sunderfolk (Secret Door / Dreamhaven), To a T (uvula LLC / Annapurna Interactive)
 

Best Narrative
 

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastián Valbuena / Panic)
• Dispatch (AdHoc Studio)
• Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)

Honorable Mentions: 

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (DON'T NOD Montréal, DON’T NOD), South of Midnight (Compulsion Games / Xbox Game Studios), The Outer Worlds 2 (Obsidian Entertainment / Xbox Game Studios), The Séance of Blake Manor (Spooky Doorway / Raw Fury)
 

Best Technology
 

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)

Honorable Mentions: 

ARC Raiders (Embark Studios), Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios / Electronic Arts), Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry), Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (Warhorse Studios / Deep Silver), PEAK (Team PEAK / Aggro Crab, Landfall)
 

Best Visual Art
 

• Absolum (Guard Crush Games, Dotemu, Supamonks / Dotemu)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Hades II (Supergiant Games)
• Keeper (Double Fine Productions / Xbox Game Studios)

Honorable Mentions: 

Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry), South of Midnight (Compulsion Games / Xbox Game Studios), Sword of the Sea (Giant Squid), The Midnight Walk (MoonHood / Fast Travel Games)
 

Social Impact
 

• And Roger (TearyHand Studio / Kodansha)
• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastián Valbuena / Panic)
• Dispatch (AdHoc Studio)

Honorable Mentions: 

Herdling (Okomotive / Panic), Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (DON'T NOD Montréal, DON’T NOD ), PEAK (Team PEAK / Aggro Crab, Landfall), To a T (uvula LLC / Annapurna Interactive)
 

Game of the Year
 

• Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry)
• Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)

Honorable Mentions: 

Absolum (Guard Crush Games, Dotemu, Supamonks / Dotemu), BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital), Hades II (Supergiant Games)

In addition to the above categories, there is an Audience Award voted on by attendees of the GDC Festival of Gaming and members of the public. The public can cast their vote from the Audience Award ballot here. Voting opens on January 26 and ends on February 8.