Sandfall Interactive’s accolades keep growing. Following Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s big wins at the Golden Joystick Awards 2025 and The Game Awards 2025, among others, for the game, 28 members of Sandfall Interactive have been made Knights of the Order of Arts and Letters. Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma, Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, and Rayman Designer Michel Ancel have also been bestowed the same honor.
The Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) is a pretigious French decoration that was established in the 1950s that recognizes significant contributions to the arts.
French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, talked about why Sandfall Interactive received its knighthood, saying the Ministry of Culture “wished to distinguish today was not an individual journey, but the brilliant success of a collective.”
“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,” she said.
“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.
“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 first source of pride is that of an entire country which, thanks to you, has seen its creators shine throughout the world. A country that saw each and every one of you take to the stage at The Game Awards and receive nine trophies – an absolute record. And that saw you receive them… in Breton striped shirts and red berets!
“A cliché, fully embraced. And all the more delightful because – as you yourselves admit – you didn’t really choose it. Because this style is primarily embraced, adopted, and disseminated by your fans.”
“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.”