At the 26th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA), one game stood out as the clear winner, taking home five awards. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by Sandfall Interactive and Kepler Interactive. Blue Prince was also honoured with two awards.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, developed by French studio Sandfall Interactive and published by UK-based Kepler Interactive, won the Game of the Year award at the 26th annual Game Developers Choice Awards. In addition to the main prize, the dark fantasy JRPG/FRPG also won the categories Best Debut, Best Visual Art, Best Narrative and Best Audio. The game was nominated eight times in total.
The puzzle adventure Blue Prince, developed by Dogubomb (US) and published by Raw Fury (Sweden), also won multiple awards, taking home the honours for Innovation as well as Best Design. Other winners included Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment) for Best Technology, Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia) for Social Impact, and Roger (TearyHand Studio/Kodansha) for the Audience Award.
Two industry figures were also honoured at the ceremony. Don Daglow received the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his 55-year career spanning over 100 games. This year's Ambassador Award was presented posthumously to Rebecca Ann Heineman (1963–2025).
The winners of this year's Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) will be announced on 12 March during the GDC Festival. The ceremony will take place one day after the Independent Games Festival Awards, for which several GSA studios have also been nominated. Separating the two award ceremonies is likely to increase attention for the winners.
The GDCA are among the most important awards for triple-A games worldwide. What sets the GDCA apart is that the judges are the game developers themselves. Members of the International Choice Awards Network (ICAN) can vote, and games do not need to be formally submitted. Instead, all games released in the previous calendar year (i.e. 2025) are eligible to participate. However, studios from GSA were not among the GDCA nominees.
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)
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.)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Honorable Mentions: Absolum (Guard Crush Games, Dotemu, Supamonks / Dotemu), BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital), Hades II (Supergiant Games)
