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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a strong Game of the Year contender, it’s also a huge financial hit. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner announced that this title exceeded 5 million units in sales, this is even with its status as a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

This achievement came as quite an unexpected turn for the team. I was convinced that we'd create a solid title that would meet moderate commercial success,” a senior team member commented.

Another leading developer remarked that Clair Obscur’s critical score, which currently sits at 93, came as perhaps the most surprising moment to the team versus “our initial expectations and what the reality of the field was. When the score released everybody in the studio were cheering loudly. The energy was electric.”

That success resulted in the studio creating a free update for the game with a new environment, enemies, and boss fights, reportedly will release in the next few months.

That said, while the game is growing, fans shouldn't anticipate the team will expand. “We have a talented crew under clear creative leadership who has a great vision for our work and future concepts. Our goal is to maintain the human scale that made this possible then develop one big game after another,” the producer added.

The size of Sandfall generated plenty of debate following launch. Certain industry figures, including renowned designers, considered Sandfall’s team as the “ideal” for creative teams. While Sandfall was and is truly compact compared to its AAA counterparts, a quick look at the game's credits reveals numerous contributors worked on it; the French studio partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, as an instance.

“We plan to recruit a bit more definitely if we have a future production surge in upcoming years,” the producer stated. “Yet I picture rather a creative atelier of a few highly skilled individuals that can make artistic collaborations.” They emphasized that the studio's philosophy as a company “aims to keep the strengths that made this achievement possible originally.”

Although it's not the right time to say specifically regarding upcoming titles — believe me, I attempted to learn more — the developers understand their fundamental principles. “Strategic combat, forms the foundation of what we built,” they said. “It's still premature to announce future passions, however, it's crucial to remain faithful to our studio's essence with [a] strong narrative universe plus innovative play that drives our passion.”

The developer added how this game originated from the creative director pursuing his ideal project. And hopefully that philosophy will be repeated in coming projects.”