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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top GOTY contender, but also a massive sales triumph. Developer Sandfall Interactive along with publisher their publishing partner revealed that this title topped five million copies sold, this is despite its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement was a surprise for the team. I was convinced that we would have a good game garnering moderate sales results,” the COO and producer explained.

Another leading developer remarked the game's review aggregate, rated 93 by critics, came as perhaps “maybe the biggest shock for everyone versus “our initial expectations and the actual outcome proved to be. When the score released everybody in the studio celebrated excitedly. It felt absolutely wild.”

That success has led to work on new free content for the game including novel settings, adversaries, along with challenging bosses, which they said would be out within the “upcoming month[s]”.

Nevertheless, as the title expands, it's unlikely they'll hire extensively. “We have a great team under clear creative leadership possessing strong ideas for our work and future concepts. Our goal is to maintain the small-team dynamic that made this possible and perhaps create large projects one by one,” the executive added.

The size of Sandfall drummed up significant conversation following launch. Certain industry figures, like Hideo Kojima, looked at this studio as the “ideal” for a studio. While Sandfall was and is truly compact next to major studios, one glance at the title's staff list indicates many individuals worked on it; the French studio partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, to illustrate.

“Some hiring will occur slightly more for sure should there be next an upcoming production peak in upcoming years,” they stated. “But I would see essentially a craft studio comprising a handful highly skilled individuals that create collective masterpieces.” They emphasized that the studio's philosophy as developers “is more to maintain the strengths that made this achievement possible originally.”

Despite being premature for the studio to say specifically regarding upcoming titles — believe me, efforts were made — the developers understand their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of this project,” a developer remarked. “It's still premature to be able to tell what will interest us, however, it's crucial to remain faithful to the DNA of studio featuring rich storytelling and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

They mentioned that the project originated from the visionary developing his passion title. It is hoped that philosophy we can continue with upcoming games.”