The French government has honoured Sandfall Interactive with knighthoods in the Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) following the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
During a ceremony held last week, 28 members of the development team were awarded the distinction by the Ministry of Culture.
“This distinction honours us, and our deepest thanks go especially to our team who shaped this world and to the millions of players who have brought it to life,” the developer wrote on LinkedIn. “We hope that our journey will inspire all those who wish to take the plunge and create their own work.”
French minister of culture Rachida Dati said the government wanted to celebrate “the brilliant success of a collective” with this honour.
“By its scale, by its impact, by the support of the public as well as the critics, your work Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has established itself as a major moment in the history of French video games,” said Dati.
“At a time when the video game industry is going through a difficult period, your success restores confidence, energy and momentum to an entire sector.”
She continued: “Your success has acted as a catalyst: revealing the place taken by video games as a cultural practice, as an industrial issue, as a lever for influence and soft power, but above all as an art form in its own right.”
“For the French video game industry, your success says something very simple and very important: video games are no longer reserved for a certain age, generation, or social class. They have found their place, naturally, in our cultural lives.”
The Order of the Arts was established in the 1950s, and is awarded to 200 people each year.
The first game industry distinctions were given in 2006 to Rayman creator Michel Ancel, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, and Alone in the Dark developer Frédérick Raynal.
The Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma was also honoured with a knighthood in 2023.
Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur has swept the industry with awards and recognitions since its launch April 2025, becoming the most awarded title in The Game Awards history.
