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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only an impressive GOTY contender, but also a huge financial hit. Studio Sandfall Interactive along with publisher their publishing partner announced that the game topped 5 million units sold, and that’s in spite of its status as a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

The game's performance came as a shock to the developers. “I was strongly believing that we'd create a solid title achieving reasonable sales results,” a key executive stated.

A technical director pointed out that Clair Obscur’s critical score, now standing at 93, came as perhaps “maybe the biggest shock to the studio compared to “our initial expectations and the actual outcome of the field was. Because when it dropped the entire team was screaming and jumping. It felt absolutely wild.”

This triumph prompted the studio creating a free update for the game featuring fresh areas, adversaries, and boss fights, as announced is coming in the next few months.

Nevertheless, while the game is growing, fans shouldn't anticipate the studio to grow. “We have a talented crew guided by a visionary 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 and perhaps create major titles sequentially,” the executive said.

The studio's scale drummed up plenty of debate following launch. Certain industry figures, including renowned designers, looked at the development group as the model for game development. Despite being indeed a small team compared to its AAA counterparts, a quick look at the game's credits reveals dozens of people worked on it; the French studio partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, to illustrate.

“We will hire a little more definitely when facing a future production surge in upcoming years,” they commented. “Yet I picture more of a workshop of a few really talented people that create collective masterpieces.” It was stated that the studio's philosophy as developers “is more to maintain the key advantages that made this achievement possible from the start.”

While it may be premature for the studio to reveal exact details regarding upcoming titles — and trust me, efforts were made — they are certain their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, is integral to our identity of what we built,” they remarked. “It's still premature to announce what will interest us, but it's important also to remain faithful to our studio's essence featuring rich storytelling and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

They noted how this game started with their director developing his passion title. We aspire that philosophy will be repeated in coming projects.”