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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a strong Game of the Year contender, but also a huge financial hit. Studio the development team along with publisher Kepler Interactive disclosed that the game surpassed 5 million units in sales, and that’s despite it being a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

The game's performance came as an unexpected turn for the team. I firmly believed that we would have a solid title that would meet some average commercial success,” a senior team member commented.

The CTO and lead programmer pointed out this title's review aggregate, which currently sits at 93, was “maybe the biggest shock to the studio relative to “our initial expectations and the actual outcome proved to be. When the score released everybody in the studio was screaming and jumping. The energy was electric.”

The positive reception resulted in the studio creating a complimentary expansion for players including novel settings, foes, along with challenging bosses, as announced will release within the “upcoming month[s]”.

Nevertheless, despite the game's evolution, don’t expect the studio to grow. Our team includes an excellent group under clear creative leadership possessing strong ideas for the project and future concepts. We intend to preserve the close-knit size that led to our success then develop major titles sequentially,” the producer added.

The studio's scale drummed up plenty of debate upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, like Hideo Kojima, viewed Sandfall’s team as a perfect example for a studio. Although the team is and was indeed a small team next to major studios, a quick look at the game's credits reveals numerous contributors worked on it; Sandfall partnered with overseas animators for animation work, for example.

“We will hire a bit more for sure when facing an increase in development in the coming years,” they stated. “Yet I picture rather a creative atelier with a small number of really talented people that can make collective masterpieces.” It was stated that the studio's philosophy as a company “aims to keep the strengths that led to this accomplishment originally.”

Although it's not the right time to disclose concrete plans what’s next — believe me, efforts were made — the developers understand their fundamental principles. “Turn-based gameplay, I think it's in the DNA of our creations,” they explained. “It's a bit too early to specify future passions, but it's important also to remain faithful to our studio's essence through compelling worlds and the interesting gameplay that drives our passion.”

The lead programmer noted how this game began with the creative director “work[ing] on his dream game. It is hoped that's something we will be able to do as well for future productions.”