Despite Massive Achievement, Clair Obscur Creators Aim to Maintain Team Small

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top GOTY contender, but also an enormous sales triumph. Studio the development team and publisher their publishing partner revealed that the game surpassed five million copies in sales, and that’s in spite of its status as a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

Its success came as quite a shock to Sandfall. I was convinced that we'd create a good game achieving some average sales results,” a key executive explained.

The CTO and lead programmer pointed out that Clair Obscur’s critical score, rated 93 by critics, was the greatest surprise” to the studio compared to “our initial expectations and the final result proved to be. Because when it dropped the entire team were cheering loudly. It was really frantic.”

This triumph resulted in work on a free update for the game featuring fresh areas, adversaries, along with challenging bosses, as announced will release within the “upcoming month[s]”.

That said, while the game is growing, fans shouldn't anticipate they'll hire extensively. Our team includes a talented crew under clear creative leadership who has a great vision for our work and also for new ideas. We intend to preserve the small-team dynamic that worked for this game and do maybe one big game after another,” they said.

Their team size drummed up a storm of discussion upon the title's release. Some developers, like Hideo Kojima, viewed Sandfall’s team as a perfect example for creative teams. While Sandfall was and is relatively lean compared to its AAA counterparts, a quick look at the title's staff list reveals numerous contributors were involved; Sandfall contracted a Korean team handling movement and effects, to illustrate.

“We plan to recruit a bit more for sure when facing a future production surge in upcoming years,” they commented. “Yet I picture essentially a craft studio comprising a handful really talented people that can make a work of art together.” He noted that the studio's philosophy as a company “aims to keep the strengths that led to this accomplishment in the first place.”

While it may be not the right time to reveal exact details what’s next — and trust me, I attempted to learn more — they are certain their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of what we built,” a developer explained. “The timing isn't right to specify what will interest us, however, it's crucial to remain faithful to our studio's essence featuring rich storytelling and the interesting gameplay that drives our passion.”

The developer noted that the project originated from the creative director developing his passion title. It is hoped that philosophy we will be able to do as well for future productions.”