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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top Game of the Year contender, but also a huge financial hit. Studio the development team along with publisher their publishing partner announced that this title surpassed five million copies sold, and that’s despite it being a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

Its success came as a surprise to Sandfall. I was convinced that we'd create a solid title achieving moderate sales results,” a senior team member stated.

The CTO and lead programmer pointed out the game's review aggregate, which currently sits at 93, was the greatest surprise” for everyone compared to what we anticipated and what the reality proved to be. When the score released all staff members was screaming and jumping. It felt absolutely wild.”

This triumph resulted in work on a free update for players with a new environment, enemies, along with challenging bosses, reportedly is coming sometime soon.

That said, while the game is growing, don’t expect the studio to grow. “We have a talented crew guided by a visionary director with a clear direction for this game and future concepts. Our goal is to maintain the small-team dynamic that worked for this game then develop one big game after another,” the executive added.

The studio's scale drummed up a storm of discussion upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, such as the famed director, viewed the development group as the model for a studio. While Sandfall was and is indeed a small team versus large developers, one glance at Expedition 33’s credits indicates many individuals were involved; the French studio hired a team in Korea for animation work, as an instance.

“We plan to recruit a little more certainly when facing next an upcoming production peak down the line,” the executive commented. “Yet I picture rather a creative atelier with a small number of really talented people capable of producing a work of art together.” He noted that their core belief as a company “is more to maintain the strengths that enabled this success in the first place.”

Although it's not the right time to disclose concrete plans what’s next — believe me, I attempted to learn more — they are certain their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of our creations,” the lead programmer said. “The timing isn't right to specify future passions, yet we must to stay true to our creative core with [a] strong narrative universe and the interesting gameplay that drives our passion.”

The developer added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 originated from the creative director developing his passion title. It is hoped that philosophy we will be able to do in coming projects.”