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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only an impressive Game of the Year contender, but also a massive sales triumph. Developer the development team and publisher their publishing partner announced that the game surpassed 5 million units in sales, this is even with its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

The game's performance was an unexpected turn to the developers. I was convinced that we'd create a solid title achieving reasonable commercial success,” a key executive explained.

Another leading developer noted that Clair Obscur’s critical score, which currently sits at 93, came as the most surprising moment to the team versus what we anticipated and the final result of the field was. When the score released the entire team were cheering loudly. The energy was electric.”

This triumph has led to the studio creating a complimentary expansion for the title featuring fresh areas, enemies, plus epic encounters, reportedly will release sometime soon.

That said, as the title expands, it's unlikely the studio to grow. Our team includes an excellent group under clear creative leadership who has a great vision for this game and also for new ideas. Our goal is to maintain the small-team dynamic that led to our success and do maybe major titles sequentially,” the executive added.

The size of Sandfall drummed up plenty of debate when the game came out. Some developers, like Hideo Kojima, looked at Sandfall’s team as a perfect example for a studio. While Sandfall was and is indeed a small team versus large developers, one glance at Expedition 33’s credits reveals dozens of people worked on it; the French studio hired a team in Korea for animation work, for example.

“Some hiring will occur a bit more for sure if we have next an upcoming production peak in the coming years,” they stated. “However, I envision essentially a craft studio with a small number of exceptionally gifted creators that can make a work of art together.” They emphasized that Sandfall’s vision as a company “is more to maintain the key advantages that made this achievement possible originally.”

While it may be premature for the studio to say specifically regarding upcoming titles — believe me, efforts were made — they are certain their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, I think it's in the DNA of this project,” a developer explained. “The timing isn't right to announce future passions, however, it's crucial to adhere to our studio's essence through compelling worlds and engaging mechanics that excites us.”

The lead programmer mentioned how this game began with the visionary pursuing his ideal project. We aspire that's something will be repeated in coming projects.”