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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive Game of the Year candidate, it’s also a massive commercial success. Developer the development team and publisher their publishing partner disclosed that this title topped 5 million units in sales, this is in spite of its status as a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

Its success was a shock to the developers. I was convinced that we would have a good game garnering some average sales results,” a senior team member stated.

A technical director pointed out this title's Metacritic rating, which currently sits at 93, came as the greatest surprise” to the team versus our early predictions and the actual outcome of the field was. Because when it dropped the entire team were cheering loudly. The energy was electric.”

That success prompted the studio creating a free update for the game featuring fresh areas, adversaries, and boss fights, which they said is coming in the next few months.

However, while the game is growing, it's unlikely they'll hire extensively. “We have a great team under clear creative leadership possessing strong ideas for the project and also for new ideas. We intend to preserve the small-team dynamic that made this possible and perhaps create major titles sequentially,” they added.

The size of Sandfall sparked plenty of debate following launch. A few well-known creators, like Hideo Kojima, considered the development group as the model for a studio. Despite being relatively lean versus large developers, checking Expedition 33’s credits reveals many individuals were involved; Sandfall partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, as an instance.

“Some hiring will occur slightly more for sure should there be next an upcoming production peak down the line,” they commented. “However, I envision rather a creative atelier with a small number of really talented people that can make artistic collaborations.” It was stated that the studio's philosophy as developers “aims to keep the strengths that made this achievement possible in the first place.”

Although it's too early for Sandfall to reveal exact details what’s next — and trust me, I tried to get them to — the team does know what’s at its core. “Turn-based gameplay, I think it's in the DNA of our creations,” they said. “The timing isn't right to specify our next interests, however, it's crucial to stay true to our creative core with [a] strong narrative universe plus innovative play that drives our passion.”

The lead programmer mentioned how this game began with the creative director “work[ing] on his dream game. We aspire this approach we can continue with upcoming games.”