Expedition 33 Praised by the French President

French President Emmanuel Macron praised Sandfall Interactive for its work Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 after the critically-acclaimed RPG swept The Game Awards 2025. However, his message drew criticism from some fans who recalled Macron's past remarks blaming real-life violence in video games and accused him of using Clair Obscur: Expedition 33historical victory to gain political points.

Before the event on December 11 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 made history with 12 nominations at TGA 2025 in 10 categories. In the end, nine of them won, just missing out on Best Audio Design, which won Battlefield 6. As such, turn-based RPG Sandfall won 30% of all TGA 2025 awards, giving the French production unprecedented success at the ceremony in Los Angeles.

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French President Congratulates Sandfall After Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Sweeps The Game Awards

In an Instagram post following the December 11 show, Emmanuel Macron congratulated Sandfall Interactive on its success, calling it a “historic first” and “great pride for Montpellier and for France.” It was not the first time that the French president recognized the prized title; Macron also praised Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in early May 2025, after the game had already gained considerable commercial momentum and critical acclaim.

While some Instagram users joined Macron in expressing congratulations and national pride, others questioned the sincerity of his remarks. Among the most popular reactions to his December 12 post were links to a July 2023 press conference during which the French president controversially accused video games of inciting real-life violence. The statement was part of Macron's comments on the widespread unrest sparked by the police killing of Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old French national of Algerian and Moroccan descent who was shot dead at the scene during a routine traffic stop in June 2023. The killing sparked protests in Paris, with protesters accusing the police of racial profiling.

“Sometimes I feel as if some of them are experiencing video games on the streets that have made them drunk,” Macron said at a press conference in 2023, referring to the rioters. He later backtracked on the remark, stating that he was not trying to be critical of the industry as a whole. “Video games are culture, entertainment, spectacle,” the head of France said in September 2023, saying he was only criticizing the gamification of violence, not the medium itself. However, some Instagram users continued to link to his earlier comments and accused him of using it Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's success in scoring political points rather than offering an honest message of support.

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The “historic first” label Macron used to describe Sandfall Interactive's debut title is accurate in many ways. In addition to becoming the first French game to take top honors at the ceremony, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 broke a five-year-old record The last of us part 2which, with nine wins, earned the award for the most awarded game in TGA history. During the December 11 event, Sandfall shadow dropped the previously announced free DLC for the game and added a new location called Verso's Drafts and an elaborate photography mode, among many other new features.

Released

April 24, 2025

ESRB

Older 17+ / Blood and gore, violent language, obscene themes, violence

Developers

Sandfall Interactive

Publishers

Interactive Kepler