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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top GOTY contender, it’s also a massive commercial success. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive announced that the game surpassed 5 million units sold, this is even with it being a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

The game's performance was a shock for the team. I was convinced that we'd create an enjoyable experience achieving some average commercial success,” a key executive explained.

The CTO and lead programmer noted this title's review aggregate, now standing at 93, came as perhaps “maybe the biggest shock to the team relative to our early predictions and the actual outcome turned out to be. When the score released everybody in the studio celebrated excitedly. It felt absolutely wild.”

This triumph resulted in the studio creating a free update for the game featuring fresh areas, 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 a great team under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for our work and future concepts. Our goal is to maintain the close-knit size that led to our success and perhaps create major titles sequentially,” they said.

The studio's scale generated a storm of discussion when the game came out. Some developers, such as the famed director, looked at Sandfall’s team as the model for creative teams. Although the team is and was indeed a small team versus large developers, checking the title's staff list reveals many individuals were involved; the French studio partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, as an instance.

“We will hire a bit more definitely if we have a future production surge in the coming years,” the executive said. “But I would see more of a workshop comprising a handful exceptionally gifted creators capable of producing collective masterpieces.” It was stated that their core belief as a company “aims to keep the key advantages that made this achievement possible from the start.”

While it may be too early for Sandfall to disclose concrete plans what’s next — rest assured, I attempted to learn more — they are certain their fundamental principles. “Strategic combat, is integral to our identity of what we built,” they said. “It's a bit too early to be able to tell future passions, but it's important also to stay true to our creative core with [a] strong narrative universe and the interesting gameplay that excites us.”

The lead programmer mentioned that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began with their director developing his passion title. We aspire this approach we will be able to do in coming projects.”