In spite of Runaway Success, Expedition 33 Creators Intend to Maintain Team Compact

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a strong GOTY contender, it’s also a massive financial hit. Developer the development team along with publisher Kepler Interactive announced that this title exceeded 5 million units in sales, and that’s in spite of its status as a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

Title art
Art: Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive

This achievement came as a surprise to Sandfall. I firmly believed that we'd create an enjoyable experience achieving moderate commercial success,” a senior team member explained.

A technical director noted this title's Metacritic rating, rated 93 by critics, came as perhaps the most surprising moment to the team relative to what we anticipated and the actual outcome proved to be. When the score released all staff members celebrated excitedly. The energy was electric.”

This triumph prompted the studio creating new free content for the game with a new environment, foes, plus epic encounters, which they said will release within the “upcoming month[s]”.

However, while the game is growing, fans shouldn't anticipate they'll hire extensively. Our team includes a great team with a strong creative director who has a great vision for the project plus upcoming innovations. Our goal is to maintain the small-team dynamic that led to our success then develop large projects one by one,” the executive added.

The studio's scale sparked significant conversation upon the title's release. A few well-known creators, such as the famed director, looked at this studio as the model for a studio. While Sandfall was and is indeed a small team next to major studios, a quick look at the title's staff list indicates numerous contributors were involved; the French studio contracted a Korean team handling movement and effects, as an instance.

“We plan to recruit slightly more certainly when facing next an upcoming production peak in upcoming years,” the producer stated. “But I would see 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 key advantages that led to this accomplishment in the first place.”

While it may be too early for Sandfall to disclose concrete plans regarding upcoming titles — rest assured, efforts were made — the developers understand their essential identity. “Strategic combat, I think it's in the DNA of what we built,” they remarked. “It's still premature to specify future passions, but it's important also to adhere to our studio's essence featuring rich storytelling plus innovative play that drives our passion.”

They mentioned how this game began with their director pursuing his ideal project. It is hoped that philosophy we can continue as well for future productions.”

Andrea Bishop
Andrea Bishop

Maya Vance is a gaming industry analyst with over a decade of experience, specializing in strategy optimization and market trends.