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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive GOTY contender, it’s also a huge commercial success. Studio Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner revealed that this title topped 5 million units in sales, this is in spite of its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

The game's performance came as quite a surprise to the developers. I was convinced that we'd create a good game that would meet moderate sales results,” a key executive explained.

A technical director remarked this title's review aggregate, now standing at 93, came as perhaps the greatest surprise” for everyone versus what we anticipated and what the reality of the field was. Because when it dropped everybody in the studio was screaming and jumping. It felt absolutely wild.”

That success prompted Sandfall developing a complimentary expansion for the title featuring fresh areas, adversaries, along with challenging bosses, as announced would be out in the next few months.

However, despite the game's evolution, don’t expect they'll hire extensively. We've built an excellent group with a strong creative director with a clear direction for our work and future concepts. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that led to our success and do maybe large projects one by one,” they added.

Their team size drummed up a storm of discussion upon the title's release. Some developers, such as the famed director, considered this studio as a perfect example for a studio. Although the team is and was relatively lean versus large developers, checking the game's credits shows that many individuals participated; Sandfall contracted a Korean team for animation work, to illustrate.

“We plan to recruit a little more definitely if we have an increase in development down the line,” the executive commented. “Yet I picture more of a workshop with a small number of exceptionally gifted creators that create a work of art together.” He noted that the studio's philosophy as developers “aims to keep the strengths that made this achievement possible from the start.”

Although it's not the right time to disclose concrete plans about future projects — and trust me, efforts were made — the team does know what’s at its core. “Strategic combat, I think it's in the DNA of this project,” they explained. “It's still premature to announce our next interests, but it's important also to stay true to our studio's essence featuring rich storytelling and engaging mechanics that drives our passion.”

The developer added that the project originated from the creative director pursuing his ideal project. It is hoped this approach will be repeated as well for future productions.”