Despite Massive Success, Clair Obscur Creators Aim to Maintain Team Compact

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top Game of the Year candidate, it’s also a massive sales triumph. Developer the development team and publisher Kepler Interactive disclosed that the game topped 5 million units in sales, this is in spite of it being a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

The game's performance was an unexpected turn for the team. I firmly believed that we would have a good game garnering moderate market performance,” a senior team member commented.

A technical director remarked the game's review aggregate, which currently sits at 93, came as “maybe the biggest shock to the team compared to “our initial expectations and what the reality of the field was. Once it was published the entire team were cheering loudly. The energy was electric.”

That success prompted Sandfall developing a complimentary expansion for the game featuring fresh areas, enemies, and boss fights, as announced will release sometime soon.

That said, while the game is growing, don’t expect the studio to grow. We've built a talented crew under clear creative leadership who has a great vision for the project and future concepts. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that worked for this game and perhaps create major titles sequentially,” the executive added.

Their team size generated significant conversation following launch. Certain industry figures, like Hideo Kojima, looked at the development group as the “ideal” for a studio. Although the team is and was truly compact versus large developers, a quick look at Expedition 33’s credits reveals dozens of people were involved; Sandfall hired a team in Korea handling movement and effects, to illustrate.

“We will hire a little more certainly if we have next an upcoming production peak in the coming years,” the producer said. “But I would see rather a creative atelier with a small number of really talented people that can make collective masterpieces.” It was stated that their core belief as a company “is more to maintain the strengths that enabled this success from the start.”

While it may be premature for the studio to say specifically regarding upcoming titles — rest assured, I tried to get them to — the team does know what’s at its core. “The turn-based aspect, is integral to our identity of this project,” the lead programmer remarked. “The timing isn't right to announce what will interest us, yet we must to remain faithful to the DNA of studio featuring rich storytelling plus innovative play that drives our passion.”

They mentioned how this game started with the visionary pursuing his ideal project. It is hoped this approach we can continue as well for future productions.”