Despite Overwhelming Achievement, Clair Obscur Creators Intend to Maintain Studio Lean

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only an impressive GOTY contender, but also an enormous sales triumph. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner announced that this title surpassed 5 million units sold, this is despite its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

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Screenshot: Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive

This achievement came as a surprise for the team. I firmly believed that we'd create a good game garnering some average sales results,” a senior team member commented.

A technical director noted this title's critical score, now standing at 93, was the most surprising moment to the studio relative to “our initial expectations and what the reality of the field was. Because when it dropped all staff members was screaming and jumping. The energy was electric.”

That success has led to the studio creating a complimentary expansion for the game including novel settings, enemies, along with challenging bosses, reportedly would be out sometime soon.

Nevertheless, while the game is growing, fans shouldn't anticipate the team will expand. We've built a great team with a strong creative director possessing strong ideas for our work and also for new ideas. Our goal is to maintain the close-knit size that made this possible then develop large projects one by one,” the executive added.

The size of Sandfall drummed up a storm of discussion upon the title's release. Some developers, including renowned designers, looked at the development group as the model for game development. While Sandfall was and is truly compact compared to its AAA counterparts, one glance at Expedition 33’s credits indicates many individuals participated; the French studio contracted a Korean team for animation work, as an instance.

“We will hire a bit more for sure should there be a future production surge down the line,” they commented. “But I would see more of a workshop with a small number of really talented people that create artistic collaborations.” He noted that Sandfall’s vision as a company “focuses on preserving the key advantages that led to this accomplishment originally.”

While it may be not the right time to say specifically regarding upcoming titles — and trust me, efforts were made — the developers understand their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of our creations,” the lead programmer explained. “It's a bit too early to announce what will interest us, however, it's crucial to adhere to our creative core through compelling worlds and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

The developer added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began with the visionary developing his passion title. We aspire that philosophy we will be able to do as well for future productions.”

Chase Allison
Chase Allison

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casinos, specializing in slot mechanics and player psychology.