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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top Game of the Year candidate, but also a huge financial hit. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner revealed that the game topped 5 million units sold, and that’s despite its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

The game's performance came as a shock to the developers. “I was strongly believing that we'd create an enjoyable experience that would meet some average market performance,” a senior team member stated.

A technical director remarked that Clair Obscur’s critical score, rated 93 by critics, came as perhaps the most surprising moment to the team relative to “our initial expectations and the final result proved to be. When the score released all staff members celebrated excitedly. The energy was electric.”

This triumph has led to the studio creating new free content for the title including novel settings, enemies, along with challenging bosses, as announced is coming in the next few months.

However, while the game is growing, it's unlikely the team will expand. “We have a great team under clear creative leadership who has a great vision for this game and future concepts. We intend to preserve the human scale that worked for this game and do maybe one big game after another,” the executive added.

The size of Sandfall drummed up significant conversation upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, like Hideo Kojima, looked at the development group as the “ideal” for a studio. Although the team is and was indeed a small team versus large developers, a quick look at the game's credits shows that numerous contributors were involved; the French studio hired a team in Korea handling movement and effects, as an instance.

“We will hire slightly more definitely if we have next an upcoming production peak down the line,” the producer stated. “Yet I picture more of a workshop of a few exceptionally gifted creators that can make collective masterpieces.” They emphasized that Sandfall’s vision as a company “focuses on preserving the successful elements that led to this accomplishment in the first place.”

Although it's not the right time to reveal exact details what’s next — rest assured, I attempted to learn more — the developers understand their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, I think it's in the DNA of our creations,” a developer explained. “It's a bit too early to announce what will interest us, yet we must to adhere to our creative core through compelling worlds and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

They added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began with the creative director pursuing his ideal project. And hopefully that's something we will be able to do in coming projects.”