🔗 Share this article

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top GOTY contender, it’s also a huge sales triumph. Developer Sandfall Interactive along with publisher their publishing partner announced that the game topped five million copies in sales, this is even with its status as a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

This achievement was an unexpected turn to the developers. “I was strongly believing that we would have an enjoyable experience garnering some average market performance,” the COO and producer stated.

The CTO and lead programmer noted the game's review aggregate, rated 93 by critics, was “maybe the biggest shock to the team relative to what we anticipated and the final result turned out to be. When the score released the entire team celebrated excitedly. The energy was electric.”

This triumph prompted Sandfall developing a complimentary expansion for players featuring fresh areas, enemies, plus epic encounters, reportedly will release within the “upcoming month[s]”.

However, as the title expands, don’t expect the team will expand. “We have a talented crew under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for this game plus upcoming innovations. Our goal is to maintain the close-knit size that worked for this game and perhaps create major titles sequentially,” the executive said.

The size of Sandfall generated plenty of debate when the game came out. Certain industry figures, including renowned designers, looked at this studio as the “ideal” for a studio. Despite being indeed a small team compared to its AAA counterparts, one glance at the title's staff list reveals numerous contributors worked on it; Sandfall hired a team in Korea to work on gameplay animations, as an instance.

“We will hire a little more for sure if we have an increase in development in upcoming years,” they said. “However, I envision more of a workshop with a small number of really talented people that create collective masterpieces.” He noted that Sandfall’s vision as a company “focuses on preserving the strengths that enabled this success in the first place.”

Despite being not the right time to disclose concrete plans about future projects — believe me, efforts were made — the developers understand their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of what we built,” they remarked. “The timing isn't right to be able to tell our next interests, however, it's crucial to remain faithful to our studio's essence featuring rich storytelling plus innovative play that inspires the team.”

The lead programmer mentioned that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 started with the visionary pursuing his ideal project. We aspire that's something will be repeated in coming projects.”