Sandfall Interactive and Kepler Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won Game of the Year at the 26th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, taking home five awards in total.

According to a release, the dark fantasy role-playing game also won Best Debut, Best Visual Art, Best Narrative and Best Audio during the ceremony, which took place at the GDC Festival of Gaming in San Francisco on March 12th.

The Game Developers Choice Awards are held annually as part of GDC and recognise games and developers across a range of categories. This year, Blue Prince was the other multiple-award winner, with developer Dogubomb and publisher Raw Fury securing Best Design and the Innovation Award. Elsewhere, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach won Best Technology, Consume Me received the Social Impact award and and Roger took home the Audience Award.

Two industry figures were also recognised during the ceremony. Don Daglow, Emmy Award-winning game designer, received the Lifetime Achievement Award, while Rebecca Ann Heineman, pioneering game developer, was posthumously presented with the Ambassador Award.

According to the release, Daglow was honoured for a career spanning more than five decades, while Heineman was recognised for a long-standing contribution to games as both a competitor and developer.

Major winners at the 2026 Game Developers Choice Awards

The night’s winners included:

• Best Debut — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Best Design — Blue Prince

• Best Technology — Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

• Best Visual Art — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Innovation Award — Blue Prince

• Best Narrative — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Audience Award — and Roger

• Best Audio — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Social Impact — Consume Me

• Game of the Year — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

The results marked a strong night for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which accounted for half of the competitive awards handed out at the show. Blue Prince was the only other title to win in multiple categories. According to the release, the ceremony was open to GDC Festival of Gaming passholders at the Moscone Center and was also streamed live on GDC’s Twitch and YouTube channels.