The 2025 Game Awards have just concluded, marking a vibrant year for the video game industry and a historic milestone: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
This RPG entered the Game Awards 2025 with a record 13 nominations and ended the ceremony with an overwhelming victory. The game from Sandfall Interactive won 8 awards, including the prestigious Game of the Year award. This achievement is unprecedented in the history of the Game Awards.
The production cost is only 1/30th of that of a blockbuster game.
The near-absolute dominance of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 became the biggest highlight of the entire event. However, things took an even bigger surprise when the production team revealed the budget for this masterpiece.
Specifically, in an interview with the New York Times , Sandfall Interactive co-founder and CEO Guillaume Broche revealed that the game's budget was "under $10 million ".
This is a modest figure compared to what a current AAA blockbuster game has to spend. For example, Insomniac's Spider-Man 2 cost $300 million , or Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War had a budget of $700 million .
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A battle scene from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Photo: Sandfall Interactive. |
According to Kotaku , Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 avoided the pitfall of inflated budgets by developing the game world on a much smaller scale and refusing to follow the open-world trend.
The enormous open world is the biggest reason for the massive budgets and lengthy development times of recent games.
According to Broche, the Sandfall team made a series of innovative decisions that allowed the studio to create more content with fewer resources, a smaller team, and a reasonable budget.
A prime example is that expanded areas in games are essentially just miniature recreations of the map, rather than complete open-world spaces.
This allows developers to create a universe that players can still freely explore without having to build something on a massive scale where every detail has to be meticulously crafted, like in open-world games.
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The expanded area in the game is actually just a miniature recreation of the map, rather than a complete open world. Image: Sandfall Interactive. |
Additionally, collaborating with partners also helps reduce the financial burden. Sandfall is an independent studio, but the majority of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's funding came from publisher Kepler Interactive, and some development aspects, including combat animation and localization, were outsourced.
More importantly, this game has a reasonable story length. Players can complete the game in around 30 hours, while most other RPGs usually take at least twice as long.
Redefining blockbuster games.
These clever combinations have helped Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 maintain the polish of a prestigious AAA blockbuster, despite its budget that many other publishers can only dream of.
The numbers don't lie. While blockbuster development costs are skyrocketing, Sandfall's game proves it's entirely possible to create a visually stunning and engaging masterpiece without a massive budget.
“We now have the technology to create similar games with a relatively small team. More games like this are coming soon. We’re fortunate to be among the first,” Broche expressed, hoping that the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will help bring the cost of developing AAA games back to a more reasonable level.
The reality is that instead of giant studios with thousands of employees, independent and small-scale producers are redefining the game. Astro Bot, the game that won the top prize at the 2024 Game Awards, was made with around 65 developers.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 made a splash with its impressive visuals and feel without needing a huge budget. Photo: Sandfall Interactive. |
"You don't need to cram hundreds of hours of content into your game. People prefer simpler titles," commented Billy Basso, the creator of the popular game Animal Well.
Beyond the gaming industry, following its release in April, French President Emmanuel Macron voiced his support on social media, describing Sandfall as "a shining example of French boldness and creativity."
In addition to the Game of the Year title, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 also won in many other important categories such as Best Story, Best Game Director, Best Art Design, Best Original Score, Best Role-Playing Game, Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Performance for Jennifer English.
Besides Clair Obscur, several other awards were given to familiar names such as Donkey Kong Bananza, Hades 2, and ARC Raiders, creating a diverse picture of trends and quality in the gaming industry over the past year.
Source: https://znews.vn/dieu-kho-tin-cua-game-hay-nhat-2025-post1611092.html
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