In spite of Runaway Achievement, Expedition 33 Developers Aim to Maintain Team Lean

The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top GOTY candidate, it’s also an enormous commercial success. Studio Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive revealed that this title exceeded five million copies in sales, this is even with it being a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

Title screenshot
Art: The Developers/Kepler Interactive

The game's performance came as an unexpected turn to the developers. “I was strongly believing that we'd create a solid title garnering some average market performance,” a key executive stated.

A technical director noted the game's Metacritic rating, now standing at 93, came as perhaps the most surprising moment for everyone versus what we anticipated and the final result of the field was. Once it was published all staff members was screaming and jumping. It felt absolutely wild.”

That success has led to the studio creating new free content for the game featuring fresh areas, adversaries, and boss fights, reportedly will release in the next few months.

That said, while the game is growing, don’t expect the team will expand. Our team includes a talented crew under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for the project and also for new ideas. We intend to preserve the close-knit size that led to our success then develop major titles sequentially,” the executive noted.

Their team size drummed up significant conversation upon the title's release. Some developers, such as the famed director, viewed this studio as a perfect example for a studio. Despite being relatively lean next to major studios, checking the game's credits reveals many individuals participated; the French studio partnered with overseas animators for animation work, to illustrate.

“Some hiring will occur slightly more certainly if we have an increase in development in upcoming years,” they said. “Yet I picture essentially a craft studio with a small number of really talented people that can make a work of art together.” It was stated that the studio's philosophy as developers “focuses on preserving the key advantages that enabled this success from the start.”

While it may be premature for the studio to say specifically what’s next — believe me, I tried to get them to — the team does know their essential identity. “Strategic combat, I think it's in the DNA of what we built,” they remarked. “It's still premature to announce what will interest us, but it's important also to adhere to our studio's essence featuring rich storytelling plus innovative play that inspires the team.”

They added that the project originated from the visionary developing his passion title. We aspire that's something will be repeated as well for future productions.”

Brian Burns
Brian Burns

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casino strategies and player psychology.