{"id":1233331,"date":"2026-02-26T02:16:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T02:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=608104"},"modified":"2026-02-26T02:16:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T02:16:00","slug":"can-anything-top-clair-obscur-for-game-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/can-anything-top-clair-obscur-for-game-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Can anything top Clair Obscur for Game of the Year?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Every June, the video game industry gets together in Los Angeles to tout its wares to the press and public. What used to be a massive festival of corporate marketing spend at the E3 trade show has downsized considerably to a handful of livestreams organized around Geoff Keighley\u2019s Summer Game Fest<\/a>, but it\u2019s still an important point in the calendar \u2014 if only because it\u2019s the moment that the release schedule for the second half of the year comes into focus.<\/p>\n

That means we now have a pretty close to complete picture of the games that might be contending for Game of the Year at Keighley\u2019s The Game Awards in December. The announcements out of the June showcases didn\u2019t really fill the hole left by Grand Theft Auto 6<\/em><\/a>\u2019s delay into next year \u2014 and it\u2019s fair to say that they didn\u2019t field that many obvious GOTY contenders, either.<\/p>\n

Microsoft was one of the few publishers to confidently play its hand, putting down October release dates on Ninja Gaiden 4<\/em>, Obsidian Entertainment\u2019s The Outer Worlds 2<\/em>, and the newly revealed Keeper <\/em>from Double Fine. Ninja Gaiden 4<\/em> is an all-out action game, a category that tends to struggle for GOTY nominations. A role-playing game like The Outer Worlds 2<\/em> has a much better shot, although Obsidian\u2019s games can be a bit divisive among critics (they already have one 2025 contender, Avowed<\/em>, which seems unlikely to make the cut), and fans seem unsure about the direction of this sequel.<\/p>\n

Keeper<\/em><\/a>, however, looks like perfect bait for The Game Awards jury. We know nothing of it beyond its debut trailer, but it seems to be a wordless yet surprisingly emotive action-adventure about a sentient lighthouse and its bird companion. It\u2019s got striking artwork and hails from a beloved studio, last nominated for Psychonauts 2<\/em> in 2021. Everything depends on how well it reviews at launch, of course, but Keeper <\/em>could be a solid bet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another strong contender \u2014 and one that has been waiting in the wings for a long, long time \u2014 is Hollow Knight: Silksong<\/em>, now finally confirmed for a 2025 release. The original Hollow Knight <\/em>didn\u2019t make much of an impression at The Game Awards in 2017, scoring just one nomination, for Best Debut Indie Game. (It was an exceptional year \u2014 the year of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild<\/em>, What Remains of Edith Finch<\/em>, Cuphead<\/em>, Super Mario Odyssey<\/em>, and more.) But it\u2019s grown in stature so much since then that I can see the jury wanting to elevate this long-awaited sequel. That said, it will need to compete for what\u2019s usually a single indie game GOTY nomination<\/a> with the likes of Blue Prince<\/em> and, if it emerges from early access this year, Hades 2<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Konami\u2019s Silent Hill f<\/em>, which now has a September release date, could be a dark horse in this year\u2019s competition. It\u2019s not unheard of for horror games to get nominated, and the critical community will certainly be praying for a return to form for new entries in this series after last year\u2019s successful Silent Hill 2<\/em> remake. But the developer NeoBards is an unknown quantity, so reviews will be even more crucial than usual in this case.<\/p>\n

That is about it for newly announced or dated titles from Summer Game Fest with a shot at a GOTY nomination. (I wouldn\u2019t expect one for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7<\/em>, for example.) The two strongest unreleased contenders had already booked their release dates before June: Kojima Productions\u2019 imminent Death Stranding 2<\/em> and Sucker Punch\u2019s Ghost of Y\u014dtei<\/em>. Both are exactly the kind of narratively ambitious AAA action-adventures that go down well with the jury, and both are PlayStation exclusives published by Sony, which has an intimidating record at The Game Awards, with three GOTY wins under its belt.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Either game would make a realistic frontrunner in the GOTY race. But both games will have a tough time unseating the current leader of the pack<\/a>. As surprising as this might have sounded just a few months ago, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 <\/em>is looking almost unbeatable.<\/p>\n

Sandfall Interactive\u2019s surprise hit RPG is, in many ways, the perfect GOTY package. It belongs to a favored genre. It\u2019s emotionally engaging with strong storytelling, writing, and characters. It\u2019s mechanically refined, slickly produced, striking to look at, and has a strong sense of personality. It\u2019s still sitting at the top of Metacritic<\/a> and OpenCritic<\/a>\u2019s best games of the year lists (discounting the Switch 2 Zelda remasters). There\u2019s been a long post-launch conversation about it.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, Clair Obscur<\/em> is a sentimental favorite with a great backstory. It\u2019s a passion project from a small, newly formed development team and an upstart publisher that beat the big boys at their own game. The community feels like it has some ownership over games like this \u2014 a similar if not exactly analogous example being 2023 GOTY winner Baldur\u2019s Gate 3<\/em>. Clair Obscur <\/em>belongs to us, and the jury might feel it\u2019s heartless to put such well-funded sequels as Death Stranding 2<\/em> and Ghost of Y\u014dtei <\/em>ahead of it. We\u2019ll see how things look in four or five months\u2019 time. But don\u2019t be surprised if Clair Obscur<\/em> goes all the way.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every June, the video game industry gets together in Los Angeles to tout its wares to the press and public. What used to be a massive festival of corporate marketing spend at the E3 trade show has downsized considerably to a handful of livestreams organized around Geoff Keighley\u2019s Summer Game Fest, but it\u2019s still an important point in the calendar \u2014 if only because it\u2019s the moment that the release schedule for the second half of the year comes into focus. That means we now have a pretty close to complete picture of the games that might be contending for Game of the Year at Keighley\u2019s The Game Awards in December. The announcements out of the June showcases didn\u2019t really fill the hole left by…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1233332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1233331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nCan anything top Clair Obscur for Game of the Year? | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every June, the video game industry gets together in Los Angeles to tout its wares to the press and public. 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