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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top GOTY candidate, but also an enormous financial hit. Developer Sandfall Interactive along with publisher Kepler Interactive disclosed that this title topped five million copies in sales, and that’s in spite of it being a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

This achievement came as quite a surprise to Sandfall. “I was strongly believing that we would have a good game garnering reasonable commercial success,” a key executive explained.

Another leading developer pointed out that Clair Obscur’s critical score, rated 93 by critics, came as the greatest surprise” to the studio versus our early predictions and what the reality proved to be. Because when it dropped everybody in the studio were cheering loudly. It was really frantic.”

The positive reception resulted in work on new free content for players with a new environment, enemies, plus epic encounters, which they said would be out in the next few months.

Nevertheless, while the game is growing, fans shouldn't anticipate they'll hire extensively. “We have an excellent group under clear creative leadership who has a great vision for the project and also for new ideas. We intend to preserve the close-knit size that worked for this game and perhaps create major titles sequentially,” they said.

Their team size drummed up a storm of discussion when the game came out. A few well-known creators, including renowned designers, considered Sandfall’s team as the model for a studio. Although the team is and was indeed a small team next to major studios, checking the game's credits shows that numerous contributors were involved; the French studio contracted a Korean team handling movement and effects, to illustrate.

“Some hiring will occur a bit more definitely if we have a future production surge down the line,” the producer said. “Yet I picture more of a workshop with a small number of really talented people capable of producing artistic collaborations.” It was stated that the studio's philosophy as developers “aims to keep the strengths that led to this accomplishment in the first place.”

While it may be too early for Sandfall to reveal exact details about future projects — and trust me, efforts were made — they are certain what’s at its core. “Strategic combat, forms the foundation of this project,” a developer explained. “It's still premature to specify future passions, yet we must to stay true to our studio's essence featuring rich storytelling and the interesting gameplay that excites us.”

The lead programmer added how this game originated from the creative director pursuing his ideal project. It is hoped this approach will be repeated as well for future productions.”