In spite of Massive Success, Clair Obscur Creators Aim to Keep Studio Compact

The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top GOTY candidate, it’s also a massive financial hit. Developer Sandfall Interactive along with publisher their publishing partner revealed that this title surpassed 5 million units in sales, and that’s in spite of it being a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

This achievement came as a surprise to Sandfall. I was convinced that we would have a solid title garnering reasonable commercial success,” a senior team member commented.

Another leading developer pointed out this title's Metacritic rating, which currently sits at 93, came as “maybe the biggest shock to the studio versus “our initial expectations and the final result proved to be. Because when it dropped everybody in the studio were cheering loudly. It felt absolutely wild.”

The positive reception prompted Sandfall developing new free content for the title with a new environment, foes, along with challenging bosses, which they said will release in the next few months.

Nevertheless, despite the game's evolution, it's unlikely they'll hire extensively. Our team includes a great team with a strong creative director possessing strong ideas for the project and future concepts. Our goal is to maintain the close-knit size that made this possible then develop large projects one by one,” they added.

Their team size drummed up plenty of debate upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, such as the famed director, considered this studio as a perfect example for game development. While Sandfall was and is relatively lean compared to its AAA counterparts, a quick look at the title's staff list reveals numerous contributors were involved; Sandfall contracted a Korean team for animation work, as an instance.

“Some hiring will occur a little more for sure if we have an increase in development down the line,” the producer said. “Yet I picture rather a creative atelier of a few exceptionally gifted creators that can make artistic collaborations.” It was stated that their core belief as a company “focuses on preserving the strengths that made this achievement possible in the first place.”

Although it's premature for the studio to reveal exact details about future projects — believe me, I attempted to learn more — the team does know what’s at its core. “Turn-based gameplay, is integral to our identity of our creations,” the lead programmer remarked. “It's still premature to announce our next interests, however, it's crucial to stay true to our studio's essence through compelling worlds and the interesting gameplay that drives our passion.”

The lead programmer 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.”