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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top GOTY contender, but also a massive commercial success. Studio the development team and publisher their publishing partner announced that this title exceeded 5 million units sold, this is even with its status as a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

The game's performance came as a surprise to Sandfall. I firmly believed that we would have an enjoyable experience garnering some average commercial success,” a key executive stated.

The CTO and lead programmer pointed out that Clair Obscur’s critical score, rated 93 by critics, was the greatest surprise” for everyone compared to what we anticipated and the final result of the field was. Once it was published the entire team celebrated excitedly. It was really frantic.”

This triumph has led to work on a free update for the game including novel settings, enemies, plus epic encounters, reportedly would be out in the next few months.

Nevertheless, as the title expands, fans shouldn't anticipate the team will expand. “We have an excellent group under clear creative leadership who has a great vision for our work and future concepts. We intend to preserve the small-team dynamic that made this possible and perhaps create one big game after another,” the executive noted.

The studio's scale generated plenty of debate upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, including renowned designers, viewed this studio as the model for creative teams. Despite being relatively lean compared to its AAA counterparts, checking the game's credits reveals numerous contributors were involved; the French studio partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, to illustrate.

“We plan to recruit slightly more definitely if we have an increase in development in the coming years,” the executive said. “Yet I picture more of a workshop with a small number of highly skilled individuals that can make a work of art together.” He noted that the studio's philosophy as developers “is more to maintain the key advantages that made this achievement possible in the first place.”

Although it's premature for the studio to say specifically what’s next — rest assured, efforts were made — they are certain their fundamental principles. “Turn-based gameplay, I think it's in the DNA of this project,” the lead programmer said. “The timing isn't right to announce future passions, however, it's crucial to adhere to the DNA of studio through compelling worlds and the interesting gameplay that excites us.”

The developer mentioned that the project originated from their director pursuing his ideal project. And hopefully that's something will be repeated as well for future productions.”