In spite of Massive Achievement, Expedition 33 Creators Aim to Keep Studio Small

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top Game of the Year candidate, it’s also an enormous sales triumph. Developer Sandfall Interactive along with publisher Kepler Interactive disclosed that this title topped 5 million units in sales, and that’s in spite of it being a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

This achievement was an unexpected turn to Sandfall. I was convinced that we would have a solid title that would meet moderate sales results,” a key executive stated.

A technical director pointed out this title's Metacritic rating, which currently sits at 93, came as the greatest surprise” to the team versus “our initial expectations and the final result of the field was. Once it was published all staff members were cheering loudly. It was really frantic.”

The positive reception has led to Sandfall developing a free update for players including novel settings, adversaries, along with challenging bosses, as announced will release in the next few months.

Nevertheless, as the title expands, don’t expect they'll hire extensively. Our team includes a great team under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for our work and future concepts. We intend to preserve the close-knit size that made this possible and do maybe one big game after another,” the producer noted.

Their team size drummed up plenty of debate upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, like Hideo Kojima, looked at this studio as a perfect example for creative teams. While Sandfall was and is relatively lean compared to its AAA counterparts, a quick look at the title's staff list shows that many individuals participated; Sandfall hired a team in Korea for animation work, for example.

“Some hiring will occur a little more certainly should there be a future production surge in the coming years,” they said. “However, I envision more of a workshop of a few really talented people that create artistic collaborations.” It was stated that their core belief as a company “is more to maintain the successful elements that made this achievement possible from the start.”

Despite being premature for the studio to reveal exact details about future projects — and trust me, efforts were made — the developers understand their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, is integral to our identity of what we built,” a developer said. “The timing isn't right to announce our next interests, but it's important also to stay true to our creative core through compelling worlds and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

The lead programmer mentioned that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 started with the visionary developing his passion title. We aspire that's something will be repeated with upcoming games.”