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The Game Developers Choice Awards 2026 are set to take place on March 12, and Clair Obscur Expedition 33 has scored a near-clean sweep, earning eight nominations across nine total categories. One of the industry’s most prestigious annual events, the Game Developers Choice Awards are voted on by members of the GCDA’s International Choice Awards Network, which is an “invitation-only group comprised of leading game creators from all parts of the video game industry”.
Game Developers Choice Awards 2026 nominations
Below are the full Game Developers Choice Awards 2026 nominations, via GamesIndustry.biz:
Game of the Year
- Blue Prince (Dogubomb/Raw Fury)
- Clair Obscur Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
- Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Hollow Knight Silksong (Team Cherry)
- Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts)
Best Debut
- Ball x Pit (Kenny Sun & Friends/Devolver Digital)
- Blue Prince
- Clair Obscur Expedition 33
- Dispatch (Adhoc Studio)
Best Narrative
- Clair Obscur Expedition 33
- Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastián Valbuena/Panic)
- Dispatch
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Split Fiction
Best Design
- Ball x Pit
- Blue Prince
- Clair Obscur Expedition 33
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Split Fiction
Best Visual Art
- Absolum (Guard Crush Games, Dotemu, Supamonks/Dotemu)
- Clair Obscur Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2 On the Beach
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Hades 2 (Supergiant Games)
- Keeper (Double Fine Productions/Xbox Game Studios)
Best Audio
- Clair Obscur Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2 On the Beach (Kojima Productions/SIE)
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Rift of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Games/Kei Publishing)
- South of Midnight (Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios)
Best Technology
- Clair Obscur Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2 On the Beach
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Split Fiction
Innovation Award
- Ball x Pit
- Baby Steps (Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy/Devolver Digital)
- Blue Prince
- Clair Obscur Expedition 33
- Donkey Kong Bananza
Social Impact Award
- And Roger (TearyHand Studio/Kodansha)
- Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia/AP Thomson/Jie En Lee/Violet W-P/Ken “coda” Snyder/Hexecutable)
- Despelote
- Dispatch
Clair Obscur Expedition 33 leads the nominations with eight nods across nine categories. Ghost of Yōtei follows in second place with five nominations, while Donkey Kong Bananza ranks third with four.
Expedition 33 already made history by earning the most nominations ever at Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards, surpassing The Last of Us Part 2’s previous record of 11 nominations with a total of 13.
Clair Obscur Expedition 33 surpasses 400 Game of the Year wins
As tallied by ResetEra member Angie, Clair Obscur Expedition 33 has currently earned 420 Game of the Year wins. This puts the game within striking distance of breaking Elden Ring’s all-time record of 435 GOTY awards.
In addition to its Game of the Year nomination at the Game Developers Choice Awards 2026, Expedition 33 is nominated for GOTY at the DICE Awards 2026 and has been included on the BAFTA Game Awards 2026 Game of the Year longlist.
Coming close to Elden Ring’s record is a remarkable achievement few could have predicted, including developer Sandfall Interactive. Among industry peers, the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director has named Expedition 33 his Game of the Year, revealing at a joint fan event that it left him “deeply inspired”.
While all of Expedition 33’s Game of the Year awards are well-deserved, Sandfall Interactive has acknowledged the pressure it mounts on the studio’s next project. Although aware of the pressure, the developer has assured fans that it won’t affect the studio’s ethos of doing what they want rather than trying to please everyone.
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