Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins Indie Game Awards

• Key takeaways:
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive) won Game of the Year, Best Debut and the fan-voted Community Pick for Best RPG at the Indie Game Awards.
• The title has already swept major awards this season, including The Game Awards and Golden Joystick Awards.
• Debate continues over whether Expedition 33 qualifies as an "indie" game, with disputes around budget, outsourcing and publisher support.
• Organizers say their indie definition centers on a studio's creative independence rather than strict budget or publishing arrangements.

Indie Game Awards success caps a dominant awards run

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 added another Game of the Year trophy at the Indie Game Awards on December 18. The win follows its Ultimate Game of the Year triumph at the Golden Joystick Awards and a sweep at The Game Awards, where it won Game of the Year plus eight other trophies.

At the Indie Game Awards it also collected Best Debut and the fan-selected Community Pick for Best RPG, reinforcing its broad critical and player support across multiple juries and fan votes.

Why the "indie" label is contested

Not everyone accepts Expedition 33 as an indie title. Critics note an AA-sized budget and outside support. Estimates circulated that the project cost between $15–25 million, though Sandfall Interactive told the New York Times the game’s budget was under $10 million.

Observers have also flagged extensive outsourcing during development and the role of Kepler Interactive as publisher and financier—factors that complicate a simple indie categorization.

What organizers and industry voices say

Mike Towndrow, creative director at Six One, the Indie Game Awards organizers, told Kotaku the indie label "can be interpreted in thousands of ways." Towndrow added that Six One tends to use a core definition focused on whether a developer has independent freedom to create in an unrestricted environment—criteria he believes Expedition 33 meets.

High-profile figures have weighed in anecdotally: Hideo Kojima praised the studio’s size, joking it had the "perfect team size with '33 team members and a dog.'" Yet outlets such as Rock Paper Shotgun have highlighted how much work was outsourced, while critics argue publisher backing undercuts indie claims.

What this means for indie awards and the industry

Expedition 33’s consecutive wins underscore how award juries and player communities are prioritizing creative achievement and player response over strict studio size or financing models. That shift is prompting deeper discussion about how awards should define "independent" in an era of hybrid funding and collaborative publishing networks like Kepler Interactive.

For Sandfall Interactive, the momentum cements Expedition 33 as a defining release of the season. For the indie scene, the controversy may push organizers to clarify criteria or embrace broader definitions that reflect modern development realities.