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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a strong GOTY contender, it’s also a massive sales triumph. Developer Sandfall Interactive along with publisher their publishing partner disclosed that the game topped five million copies in sales, and that’s even with its status as a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

This achievement came as quite a surprise for the team. I was convinced that we'd create an enjoyable experience garnering some average sales results,” a senior team member explained.

The CTO and lead programmer noted that Clair Obscur’s Metacritic rating, rated 93 by critics, came as perhaps the greatest surprise” for everyone compared to “our initial expectations and the actual outcome proved to be. Once it was published everybody in the studio was screaming and jumping. It was really frantic.”

The positive reception has led to the studio creating a free update for players featuring fresh areas, adversaries, and boss fights, which they said would be out within the “upcoming month[s]”.

However, despite the game's evolution, don’t expect the team will expand. Our team includes an excellent group under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for our work and future concepts. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that worked for this game then develop large projects one by one,” they noted.

The studio's scale generated plenty of debate when the game came out. A few well-known creators, including renowned designers, looked at the development group as a perfect example for creative teams. Although the team is and was truly compact next to major studios, one glance at Expedition 33’s credits indicates many individuals participated; Sandfall contracted a Korean team to work on gameplay animations, for example.

“Some hiring will occur a bit more certainly should there be next an upcoming production peak down the line,” the executive stated. “But I would see essentially a craft studio comprising a handful really talented people capable of producing collective masterpieces.” He noted that their core belief as developers “focuses on preserving the strengths that led to this accomplishment originally.”

While it may be premature for the studio to say specifically about future projects — believe me, I attempted to learn more — the team does know what’s at its core. “Strategic combat, forms the foundation of what we built,” they remarked. “The timing isn't right to announce future passions, yet we must to adhere to the DNA of studio through compelling worlds plus innovative play that inspires the team.”

They noted that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began with their director “work[ing] on his dream game. And hopefully this approach we can continue as well for future productions.”