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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top GOTY contender, it’s also an enormous financial hit. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive disclosed that this title topped five million copies sold, and that’s despite it being a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

This achievement came as quite an unexpected turn to the developers. “I was strongly believing that we'd create a good game garnering some average commercial success,” a key executive commented.

Another leading developer pointed out this title's critical score, which currently sits at 93, came as the greatest surprise” to the studio relative to our early predictions and what the reality of the field was. Once it was published the entire team was screaming and jumping. The energy was electric.”

This triumph has led to the studio creating new free content for the game featuring fresh areas, adversaries, along with challenging bosses, which they said will release in the next few months.

Nevertheless, while the game is growing, don’t expect the studio to grow. “We have an excellent group guided by a visionary director possessing strong ideas for the project and also for new ideas. Our goal is to maintain the small-team dynamic that led to our success and do maybe one big game after another,” the executive said.

The studio's scale generated a storm of discussion following launch. A few well-known creators, such as the famed director, viewed this studio as the “ideal” for a studio. Despite being truly compact next to major studios, one glance at the game's credits indicates many individuals participated; Sandfall partnered with overseas animators to work on gameplay animations, for example.

“We plan to recruit a bit more for sure when facing next an upcoming production peak in the coming years,” the producer commented. “However, I envision essentially a craft studio of a few really talented people capable of producing collective masterpieces.” It was stated that their core belief as a company “aims to keep the strengths that led to this accomplishment originally.”

Although it's too early for Sandfall to say specifically about future projects — believe me, I attempted to learn more — they are certain their essential identity. “Turn-based gameplay, forms the foundation of what we built,” the lead programmer explained. “It's still premature to announce what will interest us, yet we must to remain faithful to the DNA of studio with [a] strong narrative universe and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

The developer added that the project began with the creative director pursuing his ideal project. It is hoped this approach will be repeated as well for future productions.”