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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top Game of the Year candidate, it’s also a massive commercial success. Developer the development team and publisher Kepler Interactive disclosed that the game topped 5 million units in sales, and that’s even with it being a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

The game's performance came as a surprise to the developers. I was convinced that we would have an enjoyable experience garnering reasonable sales results,” the COO and producer commented.

Another leading developer noted that Clair Obscur’s critical score, which currently sits at 93, came as the greatest surprise” to the team compared to “our initial expectations and the actual outcome turned out to be. When the score released everybody in the studio was screaming and jumping. It felt absolutely wild.”

That success has led to Sandfall developing new free content for the game featuring fresh areas, foes, plus epic encounters, which they said is coming sometime soon.

However, despite the game's evolution, it's unlikely the team will expand. We've built a great team guided by a visionary director possessing strong ideas for this game and also for new ideas. We intend to preserve the human scale that made this possible and do maybe one big game after another,” the executive added.

The studio's scale generated a storm of discussion when the game came out. Certain industry figures, such as the famed director, considered Sandfall’s team as the model for creative teams. Despite being indeed a small team versus large developers, checking the title's staff list reveals numerous contributors worked on it; the French studio partnered with overseas animators for animation work, as an instance.

“We will hire a bit more definitely if we have a future production surge in upcoming years,” they commented. “However, I envision more of a workshop comprising a handful exceptionally gifted creators that create artistic collaborations.” He noted that their core belief as a company “focuses on preserving the key advantages that made this achievement possible in the first place.”

Despite being too early for Sandfall to reveal exact details about future projects — rest assured, I attempted to learn more — the team does know what’s at its core. “Turn-based gameplay, I think it's in the DNA of what we built,” they explained. “It's a bit too early to announce what will interest us, however, it's crucial to remain faithful to the DNA of studio featuring rich storytelling and engaging mechanics that drives our passion.”

They mentioned that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 originated from their director pursuing his ideal project. And hopefully that's something we can continue as well for future productions.”