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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive Game of the Year candidate, it’s also a massive commercial success. Studio Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner announced that the game surpassed five million copies in sales, this is despite its status as a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement came as quite a shock for the team. I was convinced that we would have an enjoyable experience that would meet some average market performance,” a senior team member commented.

A technical director noted that Clair Obscur’s review aggregate, rated 93 by critics, came as the most surprising moment for everyone versus our early predictions and what the reality of the field was. When the score released the entire team celebrated excitedly. It was really frantic.”

This triumph prompted Sandfall developing new free content for the game featuring fresh areas, foes, and boss fights, as announced is coming in the next few months.

Nevertheless, as the title expands, fans shouldn't anticipate the studio to grow. Our team includes an excellent group under clear creative leadership who has a great vision for the project and future concepts. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that worked for this game and do maybe one big game after another,” the producer noted.

The size of Sandfall drummed up plenty of debate upon the title's release. Some developers, like Hideo Kojima, viewed Sandfall’s team as the model for creative teams. Despite being indeed a small team next to major studios, a quick look at the game's credits shows that numerous contributors participated; the French studio contracted a Korean team handling movement and effects, to illustrate.

“We plan to recruit a little more certainly when facing an increase in development in upcoming years,” the producer said. “But I would see rather a creative atelier comprising a handful exceptionally gifted creators capable of producing artistic collaborations.” He noted that Sandfall’s vision as developers “aims to keep the successful elements that enabled this success originally.”

Although it's not the right time to disclose concrete plans regarding upcoming titles — and trust me, efforts were made — they are certain their fundamental principles. “Strategic combat, forms the foundation of this project,” a developer explained. “It's still premature to specify our next interests, yet we must to adhere to the DNA of studio featuring rich storytelling and engaging mechanics that excites us.”

The developer added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 started with the creative director “work[ing] on his dream game. We aspire this approach will be repeated with upcoming games.”