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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a strong GOTY contender, but also a huge sales triumph. Studio Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive revealed that this title exceeded five million copies in sales, this is despite its status as a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

The game's performance came as quite a shock to the developers. I was convinced that we would have a solid title garnering reasonable market performance,” a senior team member explained.

Another leading developer pointed out this title's review aggregate, now standing at 93, came as the most surprising moment to the team relative to what we anticipated and the final result turned out to be. Once it was published all staff members were cheering loudly. The energy was electric.”

That success resulted in work on new free content for players with a new environment, enemies, plus epic encounters, which they said is coming in the next few months.

Nevertheless, as the title expands, fans shouldn't anticipate they'll hire extensively. We've built a talented crew guided by a visionary director with a clear direction for our work plus upcoming innovations. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that worked for this game then develop major titles sequentially,” they said.

Their team size drummed up significant conversation following launch. Some developers, such as the famed director, looked at Sandfall’s team as a perfect example for game development. While Sandfall was and is truly compact next to major studios, a quick look at the game's credits shows that many individuals were involved; the French studio partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, to illustrate.

“We plan to recruit slightly more definitely when facing a future production surge in upcoming years,” they stated. “However, I envision more of a workshop of a few exceptionally gifted creators that can make collective masterpieces.” They emphasized that their core belief as a company “aims to keep the strengths that led to this accomplishment from the start.”

Despite being too early for Sandfall to reveal exact details what’s next — rest assured, I attempted to learn more — the developers understand their essential identity. “Strategic combat, forms the foundation of this project,” they said. “It's still premature to announce what will interest us, however, it's crucial to stay true to the DNA of studio through compelling worlds and the interesting gameplay that drives our passion.”

They added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 originated from the visionary pursuing his ideal project. It is hoped this approach will be repeated in coming projects.”