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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive Game of the Year contender, it’s also a massive financial hit. Studio Sandfall Interactive along with publisher their publishing partner announced that this title topped five million copies in sales, this is even with its status as a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

This achievement came as an unexpected turn to the developers. I was convinced that we would have an enjoyable experience achieving moderate commercial success,” a key executive stated.

The CTO and lead programmer remarked that Clair Obscur’s critical score, rated 93 by critics, was the greatest surprise” to the studio versus “our initial expectations and what the reality of the field was. Once it was published all staff members were cheering loudly. The energy was electric.”

This triumph has led to the studio creating a complimentary expansion for players with a new environment, enemies, plus epic encounters, which they said is coming in the next few months.

However, despite the game's evolution, it's unlikely the team will expand. “We have a great team with a strong creative director who has a great vision for our work and also for new ideas. We intend to preserve the human scale that led to our success then develop large projects one by one,” the producer noted.

The size of Sandfall generated significant conversation following launch. Some developers, like Hideo Kojima, viewed Sandfall’s team as the model for creative teams. Although the team is and was relatively lean versus large developers, one glance at Expedition 33’s credits shows that dozens of people participated; the French studio partnered with overseas animators for animation work, to illustrate.

“We will hire a little more for sure when facing next an upcoming production peak down the line,” the producer commented. “But I would see essentially a craft studio comprising a handful exceptionally gifted creators that create collective masterpieces.” They emphasized that the studio's philosophy as a studio “is more to maintain the successful elements that led to this accomplishment from the start.”

Despite being too early for Sandfall to reveal exact details regarding upcoming titles — rest assured, efforts were made — the team does know their fundamental principles. “Strategic combat, forms the foundation of this project,” the lead programmer explained. “It's still premature to specify our next interests, yet we must to adhere to our creative core featuring rich storytelling and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

The developer noted that the project originated from their director developing his passion title. It is hoped that philosophy will be repeated in coming projects.”