Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Tops the 29th Annual DICE Awards Taking Home Game of the Year Yet Again

David Carcasole
•
Feb 13, 2026 at 02:22am EST
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 wins Game of the Year at the 29th Annual DICE Awards.

The Game Awards might have the words 'awards' in the title, but anyone who has seen Geoff Keighley's annual show knows that it's more about the announcements than the awards. The DICE Awards, however, are the absolute opposite. It's all about the awards, and it's all about the people who make the games that win those awards.

With the nominees and winners selected by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS), it's arguably the closest thing the video game industry has to The Oscars, if only because every winner gives thanks to "the academy."

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Leading into this year's show, the expectation was that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was going to be the game to run away with every big award for the night. Ghost of Yōtei and Expedition 33 came into the show tied with eight nominations apiece, and Expedition 33 was coming off a full sweep of all the awards it was nominated in at The Game Awards.

So when it began the evening by winning the Role-Playing Game of the Year category, it felt like we were in for another night of Expedition-wins-all-the-awards-33-times.

Image credit: Academy of Interactive Arts and Science
Image credit: Academy of Interactive Arts and Science
Image credit: Academy of Interactive Arts and Science
Image credit: Academy of Interactive Arts and Science
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But then Ghost of Yōtei took home Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition and Outstanding Achievement in Character. Two awards whose equivalents went to Expedition 33 at The Game Awards and at the Golden Joysticks. It felt like there was a chance that this would be the one awards show where Expedition 33 did not dominate the night.

But that's not exactly how the DICE Awards went. Expedition 33 took home five awards total, including Outstanding Achievement in Story, in Game Direction, Art Direction, and the big award of the night, Game of the Year, which extends its lead as the game with the most GOTY wins ever by one.

Ghost of Yōtei came up behind it with three wins, while Blue Prince went back-to-back with its two wins of the night, taking home the awards for Outstanding Achievement in Game Design and Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was the other multi-winner of the evening, and the only one not included in the GOTY nominees. Of those nominees, Dispatch was the only game to walk away empty-handed, with ARC Raiders, the game that's easily the best-selling title so far among the GOTY nominees, bringing home the award for Online Game of the Year.

Image credit: Academy of Interactive Arts and Science
Image credit: Academy of Interactive Arts and Science
Image credit: Academy of Interactive Arts and Science
Image credit: Academy of Interactive Arts and Science
Image credit: Academy of Interactive Arts and Science
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Other highlights of the night included a particularly emotional tribute to Vince Zampella, one of the modern video game industry's most influential creators, and not just because he was one of the co-creators of Call of Duty. His impact as a mentor to younger generations of developers and his ability to leave his mark on everyone who worked with him were beautifully expressed, and showed how the developers he inspired will be the greater legacy he leaves behind.

The other major tribute of the night went to Naughty Dog veteran Evan Wells, who retired in 2023 after working at the studio for a quarter of a century, most of it as the studio's lead. He was inducted into the DICE Hall of Fame and was introduced by long-time colleague and the person who succeeded him, Neil Druckmann.

And a tribute made by everyone who got the chance to have a few moments with a microphone tonight was to their video game industry peers in the room and around the world. Nearly everyone who spoke tonight delivered some kind of solidarity message to other developers, calling for a more sustainable industry where developers are treated fairly and with respect for one another and the craft of making video games.

Which, for Double Fine Productions art director, Lee Petty, includes knowing that GenAI "sucks" and that instead of using those tools for things like animation, "you should hire a f***ing animator," comments that were part of his bit ahead of presenting the award for Outstanding Achievement in Animation.

Petty wasn't the only one to make their negative feelings about GenAI clear, and considering the fact that in that room tonight were likely video game industry executives who may have just pushed new policies encouraging or even mandating employees to start using GenAI tools, it couldn't help but feel like some back-talk aimed at those execs. Even more so for Petty when you consider who Double Fine's parent company is.

With the DICE Awards wrapped, the last major awards night that'll look back on 2025 still to come is the GDC Awards, where, you may be shocked to learn, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has a nomination in almost every single available category. We'll see if it can pull off another sweep, or if one of either Blue Prince, Ghost of Yōtei, Hollow Knight Silksong, Donkey Kong Bananza, or Split Fiction will be able to snatch one GOTY crown away from one of video game's most winningest titles in the history of the medium.

29th Annual DICE Awards Winners

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

Outstanding Achievement in Character

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design

Outstanding Achievement in Story

Outstanding Technical Achievement

Action Game of the Year

Adventure Game of the Year

Family Game of the Year

Fighting Game of the Year

Racing Game of the Year

Role-Playing Game of the Year

Sports Game of the Year

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement

Immersive Reality Game of the Year

Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game

Mobile Game of the Year

Online Game of the Year

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

Game of the Year

About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.

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Products mentioned

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

USD 49.99 Buy from Amazon
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