🔗 Share this article

The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive Game of the Year contender, it’s also an enormous commercial success. Studio Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive disclosed that this title surpassed 5 million units sold, and that’s even with it being a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement came as a shock for the team. I firmly believed that we'd create an enjoyable experience garnering some average sales results,” the COO and producer commented.

The CTO and lead programmer pointed out the game's Metacritic rating, which currently sits at 93, came as “maybe the biggest shock to the studio compared to our early predictions and the actual outcome proved to be. Once it was published the entire team celebrated excitedly. It felt absolutely wild.”

This triumph has led to Sandfall developing a free update for players featuring fresh areas, foes, plus epic encounters, which they said is coming within the “upcoming month[s]”.

Nevertheless, as the title expands, it's unlikely the studio to grow. “We have a talented crew with a strong creative director who has a great vision for our work plus upcoming innovations. We'd like to keep the human scale that led to our success and perhaps create large projects one by one,” the producer said.

Their team size drummed up significant conversation upon the title's release. A few well-known creators, including renowned designers, considered this studio as the “ideal” for game development. Despite being indeed a small team compared to its AAA counterparts, checking the title's staff list shows that numerous contributors worked on it; Sandfall contracted a Korean team handling movement and effects, for example.

“Some hiring will occur a little more for sure should there be a future production surge in upcoming years,” the executive stated. “Yet I picture essentially a craft studio of a few really talented people that create a work of art together.” It was stated that the studio's philosophy as a company “focuses on preserving the successful elements that enabled this success from the start.”

Although it's too early for Sandfall to disclose concrete plans regarding upcoming titles — and trust me, efforts were made — they are certain their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, is integral to our identity of this project,” the lead programmer said. “It's a bit too early to be able to tell future passions, but it's important also to remain faithful to the DNA of studio with [a] strong narrative universe and the interesting gameplay that excites us.”

The developer noted how this game began with their director pursuing his ideal project. It is hoped that's something we can continue with upcoming games.”