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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a strong Game of the Year candidate, it’s also a massive sales triumph. Studio Sandfall Interactive along with publisher Kepler Interactive revealed that this title surpassed five million copies sold, this is despite it being a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

Its success was an unexpected turn for the team. I was convinced that we'd create a good game achieving moderate market performance,” a key executive stated.

The CTO and lead programmer noted this title's critical score, which currently sits at 93, was the greatest surprise” to the studio compared to “our initial expectations and the actual outcome of the field was. Because when it dropped the entire team celebrated excitedly. It was really frantic.”

That success prompted work on new free content for the title featuring fresh areas, adversaries, and boss fights, as announced will release sometime soon.

Nevertheless, while the game is growing, it's unlikely they'll hire extensively. We've built an excellent group under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for the project and also for new ideas. We'd like to keep the small-team dynamic that worked for this game then develop large projects one by one,” the producer said.

The size of Sandfall generated plenty of debate upon the title's release. A few well-known creators, like Hideo Kojima, viewed Sandfall’s team as a perfect example for a studio. While Sandfall was and is relatively lean next to major studios, checking Expedition 33’s credits reveals dozens of people participated; the French studio partnered with overseas animators for animation work, to illustrate.

“We plan to recruit a bit more certainly if we have a future production surge in upcoming years,” they said. “However, I envision more of a workshop of a few highly skilled individuals capable of producing collective masterpieces.” It was stated that Sandfall’s vision as a company “focuses on preserving the key advantages that led to this accomplishment in the first place.”

While it may be not the right time to reveal exact details what’s next — and trust me, I attempted to learn more — the developers understand their essential identity. “Strategic combat, forms the foundation of what we built,” a developer explained. “The timing isn't right to specify our next interests, yet we must to adhere to our creative core with [a] strong narrative universe plus innovative play that excites us.”

They mentioned that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began with their director developing his passion title. It is hoped that's something will be repeated as well for future productions.”