Despite Runaway Achievement, Expedition 33 Developers Plan to Keep Team Lean

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a strong GOTY contender, but also an enormous sales triumph. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner revealed that this title surpassed five million copies sold, and that’s despite its status as a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

The game's performance was an unexpected turn to Sandfall. I firmly believed that we'd create an enjoyable experience achieving moderate commercial success,” the COO and producer stated.

The CTO and lead programmer pointed out that Clair Obscur’s critical score, now standing at 93, came as the most surprising moment to the team versus what we anticipated and the final result of the field was. Once it was published all staff members was screaming and jumping. It was really frantic.”

That success prompted the studio creating a free update for players featuring fresh areas, enemies, plus epic encounters, reportedly would be out within the “upcoming month[s]”.

Nevertheless, while the game is growing, don’t expect the team will expand. We've built a talented crew guided by a visionary director possessing strong ideas for this game and also for new ideas. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that led to our success then develop major titles sequentially,” they said.

Their team size drummed up significant conversation upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, such as the famed director, looked at this studio as the “ideal” for creative teams. Despite being indeed a small team versus large developers, one glance at the title's staff list indicates dozens of people worked on it; the French studio hired a team in Korea handling movement and effects, to illustrate.

“We plan to recruit a little more definitely if we have an increase in development in upcoming years,” the producer commented. “But I would see essentially a craft studio of a few exceptionally gifted creators that can make artistic collaborations.” He noted that Sandfall’s vision as a company “is more to maintain the successful elements that led to this accomplishment in the first place.”

While it may be premature for the studio to say specifically regarding upcoming titles — rest assured, I tried to get them to — they are certain their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, I think it's in the DNA of this project,” the lead programmer said. “The timing isn't right to specify future passions, yet we must to stay true to our studio's essence with [a] strong narrative universe plus innovative play that drives our passion.”

The lead programmer noted that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 originated from the visionary developing his passion title. It is hoped that philosophy we can continue with upcoming games.”