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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a strong GOTY candidate, it’s also a massive commercial success. Studio Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive announced that the game topped five million copies sold, this is in spite of it being a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

The game's performance came as a shock for the team. I firmly believed that we would have an enjoyable experience that would meet reasonable sales results,” a senior team member stated.

The CTO and lead programmer remarked this title's critical score, which currently sits at 93, came as “maybe the biggest shock for everyone compared to “our initial expectations and what the reality turned out to be. When the score released everybody in the studio was screaming and jumping. It felt absolutely wild.”

This triumph resulted in Sandfall developing a free update for the title with a new environment, foes, and boss fights, as announced would be out within the “upcoming month[s]”.

That said, while the game is growing, fans shouldn't anticipate they'll hire extensively. “We have a talented crew under clear creative leadership who has a great vision for the project plus upcoming innovations. Our goal is to maintain the close-knit size that led to our success and perhaps create major titles sequentially,” they noted.

Their team size sparked a storm of discussion upon the title's release. A few well-known creators, like Hideo Kojima, considered this studio as the model for a studio. Although the team is and was truly compact versus large developers, a quick look at the title's staff list reveals numerous contributors were involved; Sandfall contracted a Korean team handling movement and effects, for example.

“We will hire slightly more for sure if we have an increase in development in the coming years,” the executive commented. “However, I envision rather a creative atelier comprising a handful really talented people capable of producing a work of art together.” He noted that their core belief as developers “aims to keep the key advantages that enabled this success from the start.”

Although it's premature for the studio to say specifically about future projects — and trust me, I attempted to learn more — the team does know their fundamental principles. “Turn-based gameplay, is integral to our identity of what we built,” a developer remarked. “The timing isn't right to specify future passions, but it's important also to adhere to our creative core featuring rich storytelling and the interesting gameplay that drives our passion.”

They noted that the project started with their director “work[ing] on his dream game. It is hoped that's something will be repeated in coming projects.”