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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top GOTY candidate, but also a massive financial hit. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner revealed that the game topped 5 million units in sales, and that’s in spite of its status as a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

This achievement came as a shock for the team. “I was strongly believing that we'd create an enjoyable experience achieving some average sales results,” a senior team member explained.

Another leading developer remarked that Clair Obscur’s review aggregate, rated 93 by critics, was the most surprising moment to the studio relative to “our initial expectations and what the reality turned out to be. Once it was published the entire team were cheering loudly. It felt absolutely wild.”

That success prompted Sandfall developing a free update for the game with a new environment, foes, along with challenging bosses, as announced is coming in the next few months.

Nevertheless, as the title expands, it's unlikely the studio to grow. We've built a talented crew with a strong creative director who has a great vision for the project plus upcoming innovations. We'd like to keep the small-team dynamic that worked for this game then develop major titles sequentially,” the producer noted.

The size of Sandfall drummed up a storm of discussion when the game came out. Some developers, like Hideo Kojima, viewed this studio as the model for a studio. Despite being truly compact versus large developers, a quick look at Expedition 33’s credits shows that numerous contributors worked on it; Sandfall contracted a Korean team handling movement and effects, to illustrate.

“Some hiring will occur slightly more definitely if we have a future production surge in upcoming years,” they commented. “Yet I picture more of a workshop comprising a handful highly skilled individuals that create artistic collaborations.” They emphasized that their core belief as a company “aims to keep the strengths that led to this accomplishment in the first place.”

Although it's premature for the studio to say specifically what’s next — and trust me, I tried to get them to — they are certain their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, is integral to our identity of our creations,” the lead programmer remarked. “It's a bit too early to announce what will interest us, but it's important also to remain faithful to the DNA of studio with [a] strong narrative universe plus innovative play that inspires the team.”

They noted that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 started with the visionary developing his passion title. And hopefully this approach we can continue with upcoming games.”