Newscasts - French indie game 'Clair Obscur' sweeps The Game Awards
12/12/2025 13:22
Click the following link to watch video: https://share.newscasts.refinitiv.com/link?entryId=1_2xc9v037&referenceId=tag:reuters.com,2025:newsml_RW943812122025RP1_930&pageId=Newscasts Source: 'Reuters - Business videos' Description: French video game "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33" made by independent company Sandfall Interactive swept the board at The Game Awards on Thursday (December 11), Short Link: https://lseg.group/4oSQUnk Video Transcript: French video game "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33," swept the board at The Game Awards on Thursday. As well as winning the coveted Game of the Year, it received gongs for eight other categories, including Best Game Direction and Best Performance. Since its April release, the independent game has taken the world by storm, selling millions of copies, garnering rave reviews, and winning other top awards. It's the brainchild of Guillaume Broche, formerly of game giant Ubisoft, who set up Sandfall Interactive with a small team to create Clair Obscur. People really reacted strongly to all the passion we put into this game. It's really a game that comes from the heart and from the soul and we put everything of us into this game. And I think that people felt that. And I'm surprised still today at how much they resonated with that. You're fighting. Set in an alternate reality, the game follows a task force on a mission to kill the Paintress, a supernatural being who paints locals out of existence once they hit a certain age. The game tackles issues surrounding grief and is steeped in French culture. French President Emmanuel Macron even got behind the game, praising its boldness and creativity. Broche hoped it could mark a turning point in an industry that sees tech giants making most blockbuster games. I think we will see more and more games like this. We're like a smaller team that looks bigger because technology advanced quite a lot in the past years, especially with Unreal Engine 5, and it allowed us to punch above our weight, I think, in terms of visual fidelity compared to our budget. But I think we'll see more and more. Broche is currently working on a new Clair Obscur game.