🔗 Share this article

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top Game of the Year candidate, it’s also an enormous financial hit. Studio Sandfall Interactive along with publisher Kepler Interactive revealed that the game topped five million copies in sales, this is despite its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement was an unexpected turn to the developers. “I was strongly believing that we would have a good game garnering some average commercial success,” a key executive stated.

Another leading developer pointed out the game's Metacritic rating, now standing at 93, was “maybe the biggest shock for everyone versus what we anticipated and what the reality of the field was. When the score released all staff members was screaming and jumping. It felt absolutely wild.”

This triumph prompted Sandfall developing a free update for players featuring fresh areas, enemies, along with challenging bosses, reportedly would be out sometime soon.

That said, while the game is growing, fans shouldn't anticipate the team will expand. Our team includes a great team guided by a visionary director possessing strong ideas for this game plus upcoming innovations. We'd like to keep the small-team dynamic that made this possible and do maybe large projects one by one,” they said.

The size of Sandfall generated plenty of debate upon the title's release. Some developers, like Hideo Kojima, looked at the development group as a perfect example for game development. Although the team is and was relatively lean compared to its AAA counterparts, a quick look at Expedition 33’s credits shows that dozens of people worked on it; Sandfall contracted a Korean team handling movement and effects, as an instance.

“Some hiring will occur a little more definitely when facing next an upcoming production peak in upcoming years,” the producer said. “But I would see rather a creative atelier with a small number of really talented people that create artistic collaborations.” It was stated that Sandfall’s vision as developers “is more to maintain the successful elements that made this achievement possible from the start.”

While it may be premature for the studio to reveal exact details what’s next — rest assured, efforts were made — they are certain their fundamental principles. “Strategic combat, is integral to our identity of this project,” they explained. “The timing isn't right to specify what will interest us, however, it's crucial to adhere to our studio's essence through compelling worlds and the interesting gameplay that inspires the team.”

They mentioned that the project began with their director pursuing his ideal project. And hopefully that's something will be repeated with upcoming games.”