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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top GOTY candidate, but also an enormous sales triumph. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive revealed that the game exceeded five million copies sold, and that’s in spite of its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement was a surprise to the developers. I firmly believed that we would have a good game that would meet moderate market performance,” a key executive explained.

A technical director pointed out that Clair Obscur’s critical score, rated 93 by critics, was the most surprising moment to the team versus “our initial expectations and the actual outcome turned out to be. Once it was published the entire team was screaming and jumping. It felt absolutely wild.”

The positive reception has led to Sandfall developing a complimentary expansion for the game featuring fresh areas, enemies, plus epic encounters, as announced is coming sometime soon.

That said, as the title expands, it's unlikely the studio to grow. “We have a great team under clear creative leadership possessing strong ideas for our work and also for new ideas. Our goal is to maintain the small-team dynamic that made this possible and do maybe major titles sequentially,” they said.

The size of Sandfall drummed up significant conversation following launch. Certain industry figures, such as the famed director, looked at Sandfall’s team as a perfect example for a studio. While Sandfall was and is relatively lean compared to its AAA counterparts, checking Expedition 33’s credits shows that numerous contributors were involved; Sandfall partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, as an instance.

“We will hire slightly more certainly should there be next an upcoming production peak in upcoming years,” the executive said. “However, I envision rather a creative atelier with a small number of really talented people that can make artistic collaborations.” It was stated that their core belief as a company “focuses on preserving the key advantages that enabled this success from the start.”

Although it's too early for Sandfall to reveal exact details about future projects — rest assured, I tried to get them to — they are certain their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of what we built,” a developer remarked. “The timing isn't right to be able to tell what will interest us, yet we must to adhere to our creative core through compelling worlds and the interesting gameplay that drives our passion.”

They added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began with their director “work[ing] on his dream game. It is hoped that's something will be repeated with upcoming games.”