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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only an impressive GOTY candidate, it’s also an enormous financial hit. Developer Sandfall Interactive along with publisher their publishing partner disclosed that the game topped five million copies in sales, this is in spite of it being a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

Its success came as quite an unexpected turn for the team. I firmly believed that we'd create a solid title garnering some average commercial success,” a senior team member stated.

The CTO and lead programmer pointed out the game's review aggregate, which currently sits at 93, came as “maybe the biggest shock to the studio compared to our early predictions and what the reality turned out to be. Once it was published all staff members was screaming and jumping. It felt absolutely wild.”

The positive reception has led to the studio creating a complimentary expansion for the game featuring fresh areas, foes, plus epic encounters, which they said will release within the “upcoming month[s]”.

Nevertheless, as the title expands, don’t expect they'll hire extensively. Our team includes a talented crew under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for this game plus upcoming innovations. We intend to preserve the small-team dynamic that led to our success and do maybe major titles sequentially,” they said.

The studio's scale sparked plenty of debate upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, including renowned designers, considered the development group as the model for creative teams. Although the team is and was truly compact next to major studios, checking the game's credits shows that dozens of people worked on it; the French studio partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, for example.

“Some hiring will occur a bit more for sure if we have a future production surge in the coming years,” they commented. “Yet I picture essentially a craft studio of a few highly skilled individuals that create artistic collaborations.” He noted that their core belief as a company “is more to maintain the key advantages that enabled this success from the start.”

While it may be not the right time to reveal exact details regarding upcoming titles — rest assured, efforts were made — the team does know what’s at its core. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of our creations,” a developer said. “It's still premature to announce future passions, yet we must to adhere to our creative core through compelling worlds and the interesting gameplay that excites us.”

They added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 started with the creative director pursuing his ideal project. It is hoped that's something will be repeated as well for future productions.”