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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a strong GOTY candidate, it’s also an enormous sales triumph. Studio Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner announced that the game exceeded five million copies in sales, and that’s in spite of it being a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

The game's performance was an unexpected turn to the developers. I was convinced that we'd create a solid title achieving moderate sales results,” a senior team member explained.

The CTO and lead programmer remarked this title's Metacritic rating, now standing at 93, came as “maybe the biggest shock to the team relative to “our initial expectations and the final result turned out to be. When the score released the entire team was screaming and jumping. The energy was electric.”

This triumph prompted work on a free update for players including novel settings, enemies, along with challenging bosses, which they said will release in the next few months.

However, despite the game's evolution, fans shouldn't anticipate the studio to grow. “We have an excellent group with a strong creative director with a clear direction for this game plus upcoming innovations. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that made this possible then develop major titles sequentially,” they noted.

The studio's scale drummed up plenty of debate upon the title's release. Some developers, like Hideo Kojima, looked at the development group as a perfect example for game development. Despite being indeed a small team versus large developers, checking the title's staff list shows that numerous contributors participated; the French studio partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, for example.

“Some hiring will occur a little more definitely if we have next an upcoming production peak down the line,” they said. “However, I envision essentially a craft studio comprising a handful really talented people that create a work of art together.” It was stated that the studio's philosophy as a company “aims to keep the key advantages that led to this accomplishment in the first place.”

While it may be too early for Sandfall to say specifically what’s next — and trust me, efforts were made — they are certain their essential identity. “Turn-based gameplay, forms the foundation of our creations,” a developer remarked. “The timing isn't right to announce our next interests, however, it's crucial to adhere to the DNA of studio through compelling worlds and the interesting gameplay that drives our passion.”

The lead programmer added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 originated from their director pursuing his ideal project. We aspire that philosophy we can continue in coming projects.”