There is certainly no shortage of brilliant indie games on the market, and yet they keep coming. Just a little over four months into 2025, the gaming industry has seen a decent number of indie titles surfacing that have stolen the show, with two of the most recent titles to accomplish that beingBlue PrinceandClair Obscur: Expedition 33. Currently, these two games are not only two of themost successful indie gamesto launch in 2025, but also the two highest-rated games of the year in general. To call it surprising is an understatement, but not everyone has been so surprised by their success.
Game Rant recently attendedGamescom Latamin Sao Paulo, Brazil, where we interviewed Shuhei Yoshida, former President and Head of the Indies Initiative at Sony Interactive Entertainment. During the interview, Yoshida spoke about his experiences with bothBlue PrinceandClair Obscur: Expedition 33ahead of their respective launches, and strongly intimated how he had a good feeling about each one of them. Needless to say, he wasn’t too surprised at their success.
Shuhei Yoshida Saw the Success of Blue Prince and Expedition 33 a Long Way Off
Even with so manyindie gameshitting the market each year, only a handful manage to leave the kind of impression thatBlue PrinceandClair Obscur: Expedition 33have. For Shuhei Yoshida, though, that recognition often happens long before a game even launches. As someone who has long backed independent developers through PlayStation’s Indies Initiative, Yoshida has had the privilege of playing dozens of games in their earliest stages. Yet even among the many promising titles he’s seen,Blue Princestood out almost immediately. Yoshida said of his pre-release experiences withBlue Prince,
I challenge anyone to tell me if they’ve ever played a game likeBlue Prince. I don’t think I’ve seen a game like that. It’s amazing game design. I was lucky because I was with PlayStation and indie publishers and developers would bring their games in development to show in their early stages. So, I was able to playBlue Princelast year, and I thought it was amazing. That’s the reason I said earlier this year thatBlue Princeis going to be one of the Game of the Year candidates. After the game released, a lot of people were saying, “Shuhei was right!” And it was because I had the privilege of seeing the game very early on.
From very early on, Yoshida sawBlue Princeas something unique. Its offbeat puzzle design andimmersive atmospheremade it something special, and even in its unfinished state, he believed it would achieve something only a small selection of games have. That early confidence is what led Yoshida to even go public with a prediction aboutBlue Prince’s success months ahead of its release — something that the public would then reflect on soon after the game launched to critical acclaim. Even so, for Yoshida, it wasn’t just a guess. It was the result of getting some hands-on experience withBlue Princeahead of schedule.
WhileBlue Princemight have caught attention for how abstract and experimental it is,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33captured Yoshida on an entirely different level. From its visuals to its many unique combat systems, Yoshida saw a project that aimed to bridge the gap between modern storytelling andnostalgic RPG mechanics. RegardingClair Obscur: Expedition 33, Yoshida continued,
In terms ofExpedition 33, it was three years ago, and I was at GDC in San Francisco where I met with the Sandfall team. They were in the very early stages of development and were pitching the game to publishers and trying to find the funding, but the game was already playable at that stage. I played the game and saw the graphics — they were beautiful — and its RPG systems and the real-time combat. They were talking about their inspirations, likeSuper Mario RPGandTheLegend of Dragoon, which I was the producer of. I was like, “Oh, these guys are borrowing the legacy of this battle system,” so I became a fan of the project.
What madeClair Obscur: Expedition 33even more compelling to Yoshida was the ambition behind it. Sandfall Interactive, a brand-new studio at the time, came to Gamescom with an early build and a clear vision of the game’s narrative and mechanical direction. However, it wasn’t just the art design andcaptivating visualsthat caught Yoshida’s eye, but their respect for classic RPGs, one of which he even produced. That respect didn’t result in imitation, though, and instead explored ways to expound on classic systems, modernize them, and even innovate beyond what might have been thought was possible.
Yoshida’s early instincts have proven right more than once, butBlue PrinceandExpedition 33aren’t just points on his track record. Rather, they’re reminders of how much ground indie developers continue to break when given enough room to dream and innovate. With both titles now sitting at the top of2025’s highest-rated games, Yoshida’s quiet confidence in their success has become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
