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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive Game of the Year candidate, it’s also an enormous commercial success. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner revealed that the game surpassed 5 million units sold, this is despite it being 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 that would meet some average sales results,” the COO and producer commented.

The CTO and lead programmer pointed out that Clair Obscur’s review aggregate, now standing at 93, came as perhaps “maybe the biggest shock to the studio versus our early predictions and the actual outcome turned out to be. Because when it dropped all staff members was screaming and jumping. It was really frantic.”

That success has led to Sandfall developing a free update for players featuring fresh areas, enemies, and boss fights, as announced will release sometime soon.

Nevertheless, despite the game's evolution, don’t expect the studio to grow. We've built a great team with a strong creative director possessing strong ideas for this game and future concepts. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that worked for this game then develop one big game after another,” the producer added.

Their team size sparked a storm of discussion upon the title's release. A few well-known creators, including renowned designers, looked at the development group as the model for a studio. Despite being truly compact compared to its AAA counterparts, checking Expedition 33’s credits indicates numerous contributors worked on it; Sandfall partnered with overseas animators for animation work, as an instance.

“We plan to recruit a bit more definitely should there be an increase in development in the coming years,” the producer said. “Yet I picture more of a workshop comprising a handful really talented people capable of producing a work of art together.” It was stated that Sandfall’s vision as a company “aims to keep the strengths that enabled this success from the start.”

While it may be too early for Sandfall to disclose concrete plans about future projects — believe me, I attempted to learn more — the developers understand what’s at its core. “The turn-based aspect, is integral to our identity of this project,” the lead programmer remarked. “It's still premature to specify what will interest us, but it's important also to adhere to our creative core featuring rich storytelling and the interesting gameplay that excites us.”

The lead programmer noted that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began with their director developing his passion title. And hopefully that philosophy we can continue in coming projects.”