To probably no one’s surprise, Sandfall Interactive’s turn-based RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won Game of the Year at this year’s The Game Awards (as well as GameSpot’s Game of the Year accolade), and the team delivered a heartfelt thank you to “the unsung heroes of this industry,” YouTubers. Hold on, let me explain.
Game director Guillaume Broche took to the stage at the end of The Game Awards to accept the GOTY trophy on behalf of the team at Sandfall Interactive. While commenting that the outfit–a traditional French garb replete with a black-and-white striped shirt and a red beret–started as a joke and thanking the team, publisher Kepler Interactive, and the cast, Broche had a couple more people in mind to give special thanks to.
“And also, I want to extend [my] thanks to the unsung heroes of this industry,” he said during his roughly five-minute speech. “The people who make tutorials on YouTube on how to make a game because we had no idea how to make a game before. So, thank you.”
After giving TutorialTubers their flowers, Broche then gave a “personal thank you to an important man.” That man is none other than Hironobu Sakaguchi, a Japanese game designer and director best known for Chrono Trigger, the original Final Fantasy games, and Super Mario RPG. Basically, the father of turn-based PRGs.
“[He] made me fall in love with his games and inspired me to become a game dev,” Broche continued. “So, thank you, Mr. Sakaguchi.”
Of course, Broche also spent some time giving a “massive thank you” to the players for everything: the covers, the fan art, the “endless arguing about which ending is the good one.” And as a way to show that gratitude while fulfilling a promise, Broche confirmed that Expedition 33–which broke records for winning the most awards in The Game Awards’ history–now has a free update that adds some new content to the game, including weapons, quests, buffs, and a bunch of other stuff.
And that concludes this year’s The Game Awards. Over four hours of announcements and awards have come to a close. GameSpot has the roundup of everything you need to know and might have missed from the showcase, from the biggest announcements to the biggest winners. There’s a lot to read through.