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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only an impressive GOTY contender, but also an enormous sales triumph. Studio the development team and publisher their publishing partner revealed that the game exceeded 5 million units sold, this is despite its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

The game's performance came as an unexpected turn for the team. I firmly believed that we would have a solid title that would meet reasonable market performance,” a senior team member explained.

Another leading developer pointed out the game's Metacritic rating, which currently sits at 93, came as the greatest surprise” for everyone compared to our early predictions and what the reality turned out to be. Once it was published everybody in the studio was screaming and jumping. It was really frantic.”

This triumph prompted Sandfall developing a free update for the title including novel settings, enemies, along with challenging bosses, reportedly will release in the next few months.

Nevertheless, as the title expands, fans shouldn't anticipate the studio to grow. “We have a talented crew with a strong creative director who has a great vision for this game and future concepts. We intend to preserve the small-team dynamic that made this possible then develop one big game after another,” the producer added.

The size of Sandfall generated a storm of discussion upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, including renowned designers, viewed this studio as a perfect example for a studio. Although the team is and was relatively lean next to major studios, one glance at the game's credits indicates many individuals were involved; Sandfall partnered with overseas animators to work on gameplay animations, to illustrate.

“Some hiring will occur a bit more for sure when facing a future production surge in upcoming years,” the producer stated. “But I would see more of a workshop of a few exceptionally gifted creators that create a work of art together.” He noted that Sandfall’s vision as a company “is more to maintain the successful elements that led to this accomplishment in the first place.”

While it may be premature for the studio to say specifically regarding upcoming titles — believe me, efforts were made — the developers understand what’s at its core. “Turn-based gameplay, I think it's in the DNA of what we built,” a developer explained. “The timing isn't right to specify future passions, yet we must to adhere to the DNA of studio featuring rich storytelling plus innovative play that inspires the team.”

They noted that the project started with the visionary “work[ing] on his dream game. And hopefully that philosophy we can continue with upcoming games.”