Shroud, former FPS pro and Arc Raiders supporter, decides to try Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 after its Game Awards success, despite earlier urging fans to vote against it for Game of the Year.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has officially snagged the coveted Game of the Year title at The Game Awards 2025, marking a significant victory for RPGs and indie developers alike. In a twist of fate, this means that former FPS pro Michael ‘Shroud’ Grzesiez will finally dive into the game after previously voicing his preference for Arc Raiders.

Back in November, before the nominees were revealed, Shroud was vocal about his hopes for Arc Raiders, insisting, “we gotta make sure” it takes home the top honor, and urged fans to “absolutely” prevent Expedition from winning. Ironically, Arc Raiders didn’t even make the nominee list, leaving Shroud less than thrilled with the selections, which he labeled as “another rigged year.”

However, he also mentioned something intriguing: “I like to play the game of the year, so whatever the game of the year is going to be, I’ll play it.” Well, Shroud, that moment has arrived.

As the orchestra played at The Game Awards 2025, just before the Game of the Year announcement, it was evident that Shroud had shifted his focus. Instead of rallying against Expedition, he expressed concern over another nominee, saying, “As long as it’s not Donkey Kong… please don’t be. […] Don’t let this be another rigged year, please,” hoping for the downfall of the highly praised Switch 2 title, Donkey Kong Bananza. He later remarked that either Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 or Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 winning would be “fine,” expressing surprise that the latter didn’t dominate its categories.

When the winner was finally announced, Shroud seemed to accept the outcome. Although he planned to jump into Sandfall Interactive’s RPG right after its victory, he found himself tempted by Diablo 4 and its new Paladin class.

“You know what actually kinda sucks about the D4 thing, like the one negative, is I was going to play Clair Obscur literally after – the second it won,” he admitted. “But I would rather play as the Paladin in D4.”

He also mentioned wanting to play Path of Exile over the weekend, followed by Arc Raiders and its upcoming winter update. “Then after that, I think there’ll be a break, and then I can play it. So it’s probably gonna be like a Christmas playthrough of Expedition,” he added.

So, it looks like Shroud’s journey with Clair Obscur is on the horizon. Who knows, he might end up loving it! After all, there’s a reason it racked up so many awards.