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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive Game of the Year contender, it’s also a huge commercial success. Developer Sandfall Interactive along with publisher their publishing partner disclosed that this title surpassed five million copies in sales, and that’s even with it being a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

This achievement was an unexpected turn to Sandfall. I firmly believed that we would have a solid title that would meet reasonable sales results,” a senior team member explained.

Another leading developer noted this title's review aggregate, rated 93 by critics, was “maybe the biggest shock for everyone versus “our initial expectations and the actual outcome of the field was. Once it was published the entire team were cheering loudly. It felt absolutely wild.”

This triumph resulted in work on a free update for players including novel settings, enemies, and boss fights, which they said is coming within the “upcoming month[s]”.

That said, despite the game's evolution, fans shouldn't anticipate the studio to grow. Our team includes a great team guided by a visionary director possessing strong ideas for this game plus upcoming innovations. We intend to preserve the human scale that worked for this game and perhaps create large projects one by one,” they noted.

The studio's scale sparked plenty of debate when the game came out. Certain industry figures, such as the famed director, looked at the development group as the model for creative teams. While Sandfall was and is indeed a small team versus large developers, a quick look at the title's staff list reveals many individuals were involved; the French studio partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, for example.

“We will hire a bit more for sure if we have a future production surge in upcoming years,” they commented. “Yet I picture more of a workshop with a small number of really talented people that can make artistic collaborations.” It was stated that their core belief as developers “focuses on preserving the successful elements that enabled this success in the first place.”

While it may be not the right time to say specifically regarding upcoming titles — rest assured, efforts were made — they are certain their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of what we built,” a developer explained. “It's still premature to specify future passions, but it's important also to stay true to our studio's essence with [a] strong narrative universe and the interesting gameplay that drives our passion.”

The lead programmer added 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.”