The 12 Most Powerful RPGs: Every Winner Of The Game Award For Best Role Playing Game (2014–2025)
The Role-Playing Game (RPG) genre has always been the cornerstone of narrative depth and world-building in video games, and The Game Award for Best RPG is arguably the industry's most prestigious honor for the category. On this December 20, 2025, the conversation is dominated by the monumental, and somewhat surprising, success of the 2025 winner, *Clair Obscur: Expedition 33*, which signifies a massive shift in how the industry views large-scale, high-quality RPGs.
The award celebrates titles that best exemplify the genre's core elements: deep character customization, engaging progression systems, and compelling, often sprawling, narratives. From sprawling open-world epics to focused, turn-based masterpieces, the list of winners since the award's inception in 2014 tells a fascinating story of evolving player tastes and the constant battle between Western RPGs (WRPGs) and Japanese RPGs (JRPGs).
Every Champion: The Complete List of Best RPG Winners (2014–2025)
This award, presented annually at The Game Awards, recognizes the best role-playing game of the year, encompassing everything from traditional fantasy to sci-fi and action-focused titles. The following is the definitive list of every winner, which serves as a profile of the genre's highest achievements over the last decade.
- 2025: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
- 2024: Metaphor: ReFantazio (Atlus / Sega)
- 2023: Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios / Larian Studios)
- 2022: Elden Ring (FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- 2021: Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker (Square Enix / Square Enix)
- 2020: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix / Square Enix)
- 2019: Disco Elysium (ZA/UM / ZA/UM)
- 2018: Monster Hunter: World (Capcom / Capcom)
- 2017: Persona 5 (Atlus / Deep Silver)
- 2016: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine (CD Projekt Red / CD Projekt)
- 2015: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red / CD Projekt)
- 2014: Dragon Age: Inquisition (BioWare / Electronic Arts)
The 2025 Upset: How Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Redefined the Genre
The 2025 Game Awards were historic, largely due to the unexpected dominance of *Clair Obscur: Expedition 33*. Developed by the relatively small French studio Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive, this title didn't just win Best RPG; it shocked the world by taking home the coveted Game of the Year award, alongside nine total wins.
The win is significant for several key reasons:
The Triumph of the Indie-Scale RPG: *Clair Obscur: Expedition 33* proved that a game does not need the massive budgets of a major publisher like Square Enix or Bethesda to be critically acclaimed at the highest level. Its success highlights a major industry trend: the increasing ability of independent developers to deliver games with world-class art direction, narrative depth, and polished gameplay.
A Crowded Field of Giants: The 2025 nomination list was stacked with AAA competition, making the win even more impressive. It beat out highly anticipated sequels and major new IPs, including Obsidian Entertainment's WRPG *Avowed* (published by Xbox Game Studios), the massive open-world sequel *Kingdom Come: Deliverance II*, the sci-fi adventure *The Outer Worlds 2*, and Capcom's latest epic, *Monster Hunter Wilds*.
The Power of Turn-Based Combat: In a landscape often dominated by Action RPGs (ARPGs) like *Elden Ring*, *Clair Obscur*’s success brought renewed attention to the classic, turn-based combat system. Its unique aesthetic and focus on a compelling, character-driven story resonated strongly with both critics and the voting jury.
The Modern JRPG Renaissance: A Look at 2024 and Beyond
The years leading up to 2025 were characterized by a powerful resurgence of the Japanese RPG (JRPG), demonstrating the genre's cultural and critical staying power.
Metaphor: ReFantazio's Victory in 2024: The 2024 award saw Atlus's *Metaphor: ReFantazio* claim the title in a fiercely competitive year. This win was a major statement, as it faced off against some of the biggest names in gaming. Its primary competition included the highly anticipated *Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth* and the colossal expansion *Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree*. The victory for *Metaphor*—a new IP from the creators of the *Persona* series—highlighted the critical appetite for stylish, narrative-heavy JRPGs with deep social simulation elements.
The Expansion Pack Debate: The nomination of *Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree* in 2024 reignited discussions about whether large-scale expansion packs should compete against full, standalone titles. While the base game, *Elden Ring*, won Best RPG and Game of the Year in 2022, the inclusion of its expansion pack shows the immense cultural weight and critical quality that a major content drop can carry in the RPG space.
The Defining Eras: WRPGs, JRPGs, and Indie Masterpieces
Looking at the complete list of winners reveals three distinct eras that have shaped the award's history since 2014, showcasing the genre's incredible diversity.
The Western RPG Dominance (2014–2016)
The early years of The Game Awards were defined by epic, open-world Western RPGs. BioWare's *Dragon Age: Inquisition* set the standard in 2014. This was immediately followed by the back-to-back victories of CD Projekt Red’s masterpiece, *The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt* (2015), and its critically acclaimed expansion, *Blood and Wine* (2016). These games championed player choice, sprawling narratives, and highly detailed fantasy worlds.
The JRPG and Global Diversity Shift (2017–2022)
This period saw a significant pivot toward Japanese titles and unique formats. Atlus’s stylish JRPG *Persona 5* won in 2017, followed by the global phenomenon *Monster Hunter: World* in 2018. The award then recognized the unique, narrative-focused WRPG *Disco Elysium* in 2019, before returning to JRPG powerhouses with *Final Fantasy VII Remake* (2020) and the massive MMORPG expansion *Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker* (2021). This era culminated in the 2022 victory of FromSoftware’s monumental open-world ARPG, *Elden Ring*.
The New Golden Age of RPGs (2023–2025)
The most recent era is defined by the sheer quality and variety of releases. Larian Studios’ *Baldur's Gate 3* in 2023 was a landmark victory for classic CRPGs, setting a new bar for player freedom and reactivity. The subsequent wins for the JRPG *Metaphor: ReFantazio* (2024) and the indie-developed, turn-based *Clair Obscur: Expedition 33* (2025) confirm that the RPG genre is currently in its most diverse and critically competitive state, rewarding innovation, deep mechanics, and exceptional storytelling regardless of the developer's size or budget.
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