In spite of Massive Achievement, Clair Obscur Developers Plan to Keep Studio Lean

The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive Game of the Year candidate, but also a huge sales triumph. Studio Sandfall Interactive along with publisher their publishing partner disclosed that the game exceeded 5 million units in sales, and that’s despite its status as a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

Its success was a shock to Sandfall. I was convinced that we'd create an enjoyable experience garnering some average market performance,” a key executive commented.

A technical director noted that Clair Obscur’s critical score, which currently sits at 93, was the most surprising moment to the studio compared to “our initial expectations and the final result proved to be. Because when it dropped everybody in the studio were cheering loudly. It felt absolutely wild.”

The positive reception resulted in work on new free content for the title featuring fresh areas, adversaries, and boss fights, reportedly will release sometime soon.

Nevertheless, as the title expands, fans shouldn't anticipate they'll hire extensively. “We have a talented crew under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for the project plus upcoming innovations. We'd like to keep the human scale that made this possible and do maybe one big game after another,” the producer noted.

The studio's scale sparked plenty of debate when the game came out. A few well-known creators, such as the famed director, looked at Sandfall’s team as the “ideal” for creative teams. Despite being relatively lean versus large developers, a quick look at the title's staff list shows that many individuals were involved; the French studio partnered with overseas animators for animation work, as an instance.

“We will hire a bit more definitely should there be an increase in development in upcoming years,” the executive said. “However, I envision rather a creative atelier of a few really talented people that create a work of art together.” They emphasized that Sandfall’s vision as a company “is more to maintain the key advantages that enabled this success originally.”

Despite being premature for the studio to reveal exact details regarding upcoming titles — and trust me, I attempted to learn more — they are certain their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of our creations,” they explained. “It's a bit too early to announce our next interests, however, it's crucial to stay true to our studio's essence featuring rich storytelling and engaging mechanics that excites us.”

The lead programmer added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 started with the visionary “work[ing] on his dream game. It is hoped that philosophy will be repeated with upcoming games.”