Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is once again sweeping award nominations, this time at the Game Developers Choice Awards, where it’s been nominated for all but one award.
The organization announced its nominees for the GDC Awards today, with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 garnering the most by far: eight award nominations out of nine possible awards, including Game of the Year. The only award it did not receive a nomination for was the Social Impact award.
In fact, a few games were present in quite a few categories this year. Ghost of Yōtei received five nominations and an honorable mention, and Blue Prince and Donkey Kong Bananza came away with four nominations apiece.
The Game Developers Choice Awards will take place on Thursday, March 12 at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Unlike previous years, the Independent Game Festival awards, which usually take place on the same day prior to the GDC Awards ceremony, will now take place the day before on Wednesday, March 11.
Though there’s been some public debate about whether or not Clair Obscur qualifies as an “indie” game or not, it did not receive any nominations in the IGFs – possibly either due to not being eligible, or simply not being submitted by its studio for consideration in the first place. Baby Steps was the most-nominated game in the IGFs this year with five nominations, including for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
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)
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
