Famitsu has published its yearly poll, which asks the Japanese games industry for their favorite game of the year, and you'll never guess who won. For years, Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has reached out to Japanese game developers to get some consensus on what the game of the year is among the industry. Last year's winner was Dragon Quest 3: HD-2D Remake, while prior years have seen the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Elden Ring, and Death Stranding. And I'll give you one guess which game won this year (via The Gamer). Like we've seen with everyone else, Japanese game developers voted Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as their game of the year. Making up the rest of the top five is Ghost of Yotei – which follows 2020's winner Ghost of Tsushima – mystery game Urban Myth Demolition Center, taking third. Meanwhile, Nintendo has double representation with – the real 2025 GOTY – Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World taking the fourth and fifth place spots respectively. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is your Ultimate Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards 2025, because of course it is The Witcher legend Doug Cockle agrees "there's so many great games this year," but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the highlight: "It's such a beautifully written game, and beautifully conceived and achieved" Silksong devs "maybe" aren't going to The Game Awards and think they're "safe" from a GOTY win because of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which is "exceptional and broadly palatable" Included in the polled list of developers are names like Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya, Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka, Street Fighter 6 director Takayuki Nakayama and soon-to-be-former Tekken boss Katsuhiro Harada. While the Famitsu website doesn't include individual developer selections, these typically get posted online at some point, which is how we found out the hilarious bits of info in 2024, like Final Fantasy 14's Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P) voting for only one game – Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail – and former Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi voting Castlevania Dominus Collection – a collection of DS Castlevania games he directed – as number one. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director admits Sandfall "tried" AI during the J'RPG's development, but "didn’t like it"