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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 financial hit. Developer the development team and publisher their publishing partner announced that this title topped five million copies sold, and that’s despite it being a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

The game's performance came as a surprise to the developers. “I was strongly believing that we'd create an enjoyable experience that would meet reasonable commercial success,” a key executive stated.

A technical director noted this title's Metacritic rating, which currently sits at 93, was “maybe the biggest shock to the studio compared to what we anticipated and the actual outcome of the field was. Once it was published everybody in the studio were cheering loudly. The energy was electric.”

This triumph has led to work on a complimentary expansion for the game with a new environment, enemies, and boss fights, which they said would be out within the “upcoming month[s]”.

However, as the title expands, fans shouldn't anticipate the team will expand. “We have an excellent group guided by a visionary director with a clear direction for our work plus upcoming innovations. We'd like to keep the human scale that worked for this game then develop large projects one by one,” the producer said.

The studio's scale drummed up a storm of discussion when the game came out. Certain industry figures, such as the famed director, considered this studio as the model for creative teams. While Sandfall was and is indeed a small team next to major studios, checking the title's staff list indicates dozens of people were involved; the French studio hired a team in Korea handling movement and effects, as an instance.

“We will hire a bit more for sure when facing an increase in development in the coming years,” the producer said. “Yet I picture rather a creative atelier comprising a handful exceptionally gifted creators capable of producing a work of art together.” It was stated that Sandfall’s vision as a company “aims to keep the successful elements that made this achievement possible in the first place.”

While it may be not the right time to disclose concrete plans regarding upcoming titles — rest assured, I tried to get them to — the developers understand their fundamental principles. “Turn-based gameplay, is integral to our identity of this project,” the lead programmer said. “It's a bit too early to specify our next interests, however, it's crucial to adhere to the DNA of studio through compelling worlds and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

The developer mentioned that the project began with the creative director pursuing his ideal project. And hopefully that philosophy we will be able to do in coming projects.”