At present, the gaming community is raving about a singular topic. A member of Team Cherry, the ones synonymous with the soon-to-be-released Hollow Knight: Silksong has let it be known that he believes Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is going to take the Game of the Year. Yes, the rumor is true. One game developer of the most anticipated games is endorsing a competitor. He didn’t stop at just that and even said it was “exceptional and widely acceptable.” When such a declaration is made, it is done so with the greatest reverence, and the entire gaming world seems to be in discussions, disagreements, and to be very frank, some are just a bit perplexed.
Let us break this down. The initial tweet that came from Pirat_Nation featured the developer’s comment, and the replies became a flood. It is a perfect cocktail of consensus, complete insanity, and even substantial discussion. One gamer, panthuraax, offered a very insightful comment by stating that the Silksong dev is just being smart. They proposed the idea that it was a strategic maneuver to get a larger audience for Silksong through their acclaim of the competitor. “Either way, congratulations to the studios, both games are awesome,” they added, which is indeed a very relaxed perspective.
Nevertheless, there are people who do not consider Expedition 33 to be a good game at all. User drunkdriver2146 frankly called it “really the most overrated game ever, it’s good but not generation defining.” That is quite a harsh comment indeed. On the flip side, gosuprime022 sounded like he was in the completely opposite camp claiming “e33 is miles better in every aspect, gameplay, music, graphics, art direction, etc.” Hence, the community is, well, at least a bit divided.
Furthermore, the point about the game being “broadly palatable” keeps coming back. A few people in the comments have caught that phrase. TrulyEikonic referred to it as a “euphemism” that “isn’t even subtle,” while waterburgr just called it a “jab.” Huh, what were we talking about? Oh, yes. The implication appears to be that Expedition 33 is more user-friendly, maybe even a bit safer, while Silksong, on the other hand, is known for its punishing difficulty. SkreechyScreech made this observation very clear when he said, “SilkSong was good, but even as a Hollow Knight fan, it’s too hard for broad appeal. Expedition 33 had its issues, but it deserves it more.” Thus, that expression could either be a backhanded compliment or just an honest recognition of its widespread appeal. Who can tell?
Eventually, the conversation took a quick turn to a full-blown GOTY discussion, which came up with every great game of the last few years. People started to put forward God of War Ragnarok, Baldur’s Gate 3, Elden Ring, and even Half-Life: Alyx. The user _uxio_dl_ made an attempt to summarize the madness by saying “My GOTY is Silksong but it is not game of the decade,” while emphasizing that people are “glazing” over Expedition 33 a little too much. Gorgan_Freemann contributed a spicy take on souls-likes maintaining that “all they have going for them is being ridiculously hard,” though he did acknowledge that Elden Ring is the best one. And then there was the random mention of Hades 2 by ahmad_kb, who predicted that “the gaming journalist will pick Hades 2. 🫠.”, which honestly seems to be a completely different case.
Amid the whole controversy, some gamers just had to appreciate the truthfulness. The user meliussouls praised the Silksong developer for his honesty saying, “We wish more developers like this one who are honest and fewer developers who badmouth a game just because it’s not selling as well as theirs.” To which they added a little shade by saying, “Any reference is purely coincidental (Ubisoft).” So there’s that.
Then there are those side topics that crop up and make Twitter, well, Twitter. Someone referred to Silksong using the abbreviation “SS,” and the user GrimCyanide replied with a humorous “HANK NOOO! DON’T ABBREVIATE SILKSONG!!!” and a meme tagged to it. These kinds of little incidents remind us that it’s all about games and people.
What is the conclusion? It is very rare for developers of highly anticipated titles to so openly support a rival in the running for top prize. It indicates a significant amount of class and mutual respect within the industry. Whether it is a sincere belief or a 4D chess marketing move is open to debate.
