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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only an impressive Game of the Year contender, but also an enormous commercial success. Studio the development team along with publisher Kepler Interactive revealed that this title surpassed five million copies sold, this is in spite of it being a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement was a surprise for the team. I was convinced that we'd create an enjoyable experience that would meet moderate sales results,” the COO and producer stated.

Another leading developer pointed out that Clair Obscur’s Metacritic rating, now standing at 93, came as the greatest surprise” for everyone compared to our early predictions and the final result proved to be. Once it was published all staff members celebrated excitedly. It was really frantic.”

That success resulted in Sandfall developing new free content for players including novel settings, adversaries, and boss fights, which they said would be out within the “upcoming month[s]”.

Nevertheless, while the game is growing, it's unlikely they'll hire extensively. “We have a talented crew with a strong creative director who has a great vision for our work plus upcoming innovations. Our goal is to maintain the close-knit size that led to our success then develop major titles sequentially,” the producer noted.

The studio's scale sparked a storm of discussion upon the title's release. A few well-known creators, such as the famed director, looked at the development group as a perfect example for creative teams. While Sandfall was and is relatively lean compared to its AAA counterparts, checking Expedition 33’s credits reveals numerous contributors participated; the French studio hired a team in Korea to work on gameplay animations, to illustrate.

“Some hiring will occur a little more for sure should there be an increase in development down the line,” the executive stated. “However, I envision rather a creative atelier comprising a handful really talented people that create a work of art together.” It was stated that Sandfall’s vision as developers “aims to keep the successful elements that made this achievement possible in the first place.”

Although it's not the right time to disclose concrete plans what’s next — believe me, efforts were made — the developers understand their essential identity. “Turn-based gameplay, is integral to our identity of this project,” the lead programmer explained. “The timing isn't right to be able to tell future passions, but it's important also to adhere to the DNA of studio through compelling worlds and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

The lead programmer mentioned that the project originated from the creative director “work[ing] on his dream game. We aspire this approach will be repeated in coming projects.”