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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top GOTY candidate, it’s also a huge sales triumph. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive disclosed that the game surpassed 5 million units in sales, and that’s despite its status as a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

The game's performance came as an unexpected turn to Sandfall. I was convinced that we'd create an enjoyable experience garnering reasonable commercial success,” a senior team member explained.

Another leading developer pointed out this title's critical score, which currently sits at 93, came as the most surprising moment to the studio compared to what we anticipated and the final result proved to be. Once it was published everybody in the studio was screaming and jumping. The energy was electric.”

The positive reception prompted work on a free update for players featuring fresh areas, adversaries, along with challenging bosses, which they said would be out sometime soon.

Nevertheless, despite the game's evolution, fans shouldn't anticipate the team will expand. Our team includes a talented crew under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for our work plus upcoming innovations. We'd like to keep the human scale that led to our success then develop major titles sequentially,” they noted.

Their team size drummed up a storm of discussion when the game came out. Certain industry figures, including renowned designers, considered this studio as the “ideal” for game development. Although the team is and was indeed a small team compared to its AAA counterparts, one glance at the game's credits indicates numerous contributors were involved; the French studio contracted a Korean team to work on gameplay animations, as an instance.

“We plan to recruit a bit more certainly when facing next an upcoming production peak in upcoming years,” they commented. “But I would see more of a workshop comprising a handful highly skilled individuals capable of producing a work of art together.” It was stated that Sandfall’s vision as a studio “focuses on preserving the strengths that led to this accomplishment in the first place.”

Despite being premature for the studio to disclose concrete plans what’s next — and trust me, I attempted to learn more — they are certain their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of our creations,” the lead programmer said. “It's a bit too early to announce our next interests, however, it's crucial to remain faithful to our studio's essence through compelling worlds and the interesting gameplay that excites us.”

They added that the project originated from their director “work[ing] on his dream game. It is hoped this approach will be repeated with upcoming games.”