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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only an impressive GOTY candidate, it’s also a massive sales triumph. Studio Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive disclosed that this title surpassed 5 million units sold, this is in spite of its status as a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

Its success came as a shock for the team. “I was strongly believing that we would have a good game that would meet reasonable sales results,” the COO and producer commented.

The CTO and lead programmer pointed out that Clair Obscur’s review aggregate, which currently sits at 93, was “maybe the biggest shock to the studio relative to what we anticipated and the final result turned out to be. Once it was published all staff members was screaming and jumping. It was really frantic.”

The positive reception has led to the studio creating a complimentary expansion for players including novel settings, adversaries, along with challenging bosses, reportedly will release sometime soon.

However, as the title expands, fans shouldn't anticipate the team will expand. “We have an excellent group guided by a visionary director who has a great vision for the project and future concepts. Our goal is to maintain the close-knit size that led to our success and perhaps create one big game after another,” the producer added.

Their team size generated plenty of debate upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, including renowned designers, considered the development group as the model for a studio. Despite being truly compact compared to its AAA counterparts, checking the game's credits shows that many individuals participated; Sandfall partnered with overseas animators to work on gameplay animations, as an instance.

“We will hire a bit more for sure when facing an increase in development down the line,” the executive said. “Yet I picture essentially a craft studio comprising a handful highly skilled individuals capable of producing a work of art together.” They emphasized that Sandfall’s vision as a company “aims to keep the key advantages that led to this accomplishment in the first place.”

While it may be not the right time to reveal exact details regarding upcoming titles — believe me, efforts were made — they are certain their essential identity. “Strategic combat, I think it's in the DNA of what we built,” they explained. “It's a bit too early to specify what will interest us, yet we must to remain faithful to our creative core through compelling worlds plus innovative play that drives our passion.”

The developer added how this game began with the visionary developing his passion title. It is hoped that philosophy we will be able to do in coming projects.”