Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is on a generational award-sweeping run. It cleaned up at the Golden Joysticks, did the same at The Game Awards, and comfortably won our Game of the Year here at TheGamer. It’s a game that’s been lauded the world over, with some of Japan’s finest developers admitting their love for the French-developed video game.
The accolades don’t seem to be slowing down any time either, nor does the Japanese adulation, as today Famitsu has just confirmed its “Super Popular Game Of The Year” for 2025, and you guessed it, it’s Clair Obscur.
Famitsu Crowns Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 As Super Popular Game Of The Year
For 11 years now, Famitsu has been polling the Japanese games industry on its favorite game of the year, crowning the winner the “Super Popular Game Of The Year.” Previous winners have included Marvel’s Spider-Man, Death Stranding, Elden Ring, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
This year, the Japanese news site polled 191 developers, including some all-time greats, for their game of the year, and unsurprisingly, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 came out on top.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Player Discovers Horrifying History Behind A Major Boss’s Outfit
How dare he?
The list of those who voted reads like a who’s who of the Japanese gaming industry, and it included the following in its 191 poll respondents:
- Koji Igarashi (Castlevania)
- Akifumi Nakanishi (Resident Evil Requiem)
- Hideki Kamiya (Bayoneta, Okami)
- Tomohiko Sho (Dynasty Warriors)
- Yoshinori Kitase (Final Fantasy)
- Naoki Hamaguchi (Final Fantasy)
- Yoshi-P (Final Fantasy 14)
- Shun Nakamura (Sonic)
- Katsuhiro Harada (Tekken)
- SWERY (Deadly Premonition)
The remainder of Famitsu’s top five was made up of Ghost of Yotei, Urban Myth Dissolution Center, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Mario Kart World. Surprisingly, despite Death Stranding scooping the award in 2019, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach failed to crack the top five this year.
In its awards, Famitsu called Clair Obscur “truly the representative title of 2025,” and it marks another show of just how fervently Japanese gamers have taken to Sandfall Interactive’s unique spin on the beloved JRPG formula.
- Released
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April 24, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Sandfall Interactive
- Publisher(s)
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Kepler Interactive
