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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a strong Game of the Year candidate, it’s also an enormous sales triumph. Developer Sandfall Interactive along with publisher Kepler Interactive revealed that the game surpassed five million copies in sales, and that’s even with it being a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement came as quite a surprise for the team. I firmly believed that we would have an enjoyable experience garnering moderate sales results,” a senior team member commented.

Another leading developer remarked that Clair Obscur’s Metacritic rating, now standing at 93, was the greatest surprise” to the team relative to what we anticipated and what the reality proved to be. Once it was published the entire team was screaming and jumping. The energy was electric.”

This triumph prompted the studio creating a free update for the title with a new environment, foes, and boss fights, reportedly would be out within the “upcoming month[s]”.

That said, despite the game's evolution, fans shouldn't anticipate they'll hire extensively. “We have a great team under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for the project plus upcoming innovations. We intend to preserve the close-knit size that led to our success then develop large projects one by one,” the executive said.

The studio's scale drummed up plenty of debate upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, including renowned designers, viewed this studio as the model for a studio. While Sandfall was and is truly compact compared to its AAA counterparts, a quick look at Expedition 33’s credits shows that numerous contributors were involved; Sandfall hired a team in Korea handling movement and effects, for example.

“We plan to recruit a little more for sure if we have an increase in development down the line,” they commented. “However, I envision essentially a craft studio comprising a handful really talented people that create collective masterpieces.” He noted that Sandfall’s vision as a company “is more to maintain the strengths that led to this accomplishment originally.”

Although it's not the right time to reveal exact details about future projects — believe me, efforts were made — the team does know what’s at its core. “Strategic combat, is integral to our identity of our creations,” a developer explained. “It's still premature to announce what will interest us, but it's important also to remain faithful to the DNA of studio through compelling worlds and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

They mentioned that the project began with their director developing his passion title. And hopefully that's something we can continue as well for future productions.”