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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top GOTY candidate, but also a massive commercial success. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive revealed that this title exceeded 5 million units sold, and that’s in spite of it being a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement was a surprise to the developers. “I was strongly believing that we'd create a good game achieving moderate sales results,” the COO and producer stated.

A technical director remarked the game's critical score, now standing at 93, was the greatest surprise” for everyone versus “our initial expectations and the actual outcome proved to be. When the score released everybody in the studio were cheering loudly. The energy was electric.”

That success prompted work on new free content for the game featuring fresh areas, enemies, plus epic encounters, as announced will release in the next few months.

Nevertheless, while the game is growing, fans shouldn't anticipate the team will expand. “We have a talented crew under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for our work and also for new ideas. Our goal is to maintain the small-team dynamic that made this possible then develop major titles sequentially,” they noted.

The size of Sandfall sparked significant conversation upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, like Hideo Kojima, viewed this studio as a perfect example for game development. While Sandfall was and is relatively lean next to major studios, a quick look at Expedition 33’s credits shows that dozens of people were involved; Sandfall partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, for example.

“Some hiring will occur a bit more certainly should there be a future production surge in the coming years,” the producer commented. “Yet I picture essentially a craft studio with a small number of exceptionally gifted creators capable of producing artistic collaborations.” They emphasized that their core belief as a company “aims to keep the key advantages that enabled this success in the first place.”

While it may be premature for the studio to reveal exact details what’s next — and trust me, I tried to get them to — the developers understand their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, is integral to our identity of this project,” the lead programmer said. “The timing isn't right to specify what will interest us, however, it's crucial to remain faithful to our creative core featuring rich storytelling and engaging mechanics that excites us.”

The lead programmer noted how this game started with their director “work[ing] on his dream game. It is hoped that's something we will be able to do in coming projects.”