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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top GOTY candidate, it’s also a huge commercial success. Developer the development team along with publisher Kepler Interactive disclosed that this title surpassed five million copies in sales, this is in spite of its status as a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

Its success came as a surprise to the developers. “I was strongly believing that we'd create a solid title garnering moderate sales results,” a key executive commented.

The CTO and lead programmer remarked that Clair Obscur’s Metacritic rating, rated 93 by critics, came as “maybe the biggest shock to the team versus our early predictions and what the reality of the field was. When the score released all staff members was screaming and jumping. It was really frantic.”

That success has led to the studio creating a free update for players featuring fresh areas, foes, plus epic encounters, reportedly is coming in the next few months.

That said, despite the game's evolution, don’t expect they'll hire extensively. “We have a talented crew with a strong creative director who has a great vision for the project and also for new ideas. Our goal is to maintain the close-knit size that made this possible then develop major titles sequentially,” they said.

Their team size drummed up a storm of discussion following launch. Certain industry figures, such as the famed director, viewed Sandfall’s team as the model for creative teams. While Sandfall was and is relatively lean versus large developers, a quick look at Expedition 33’s credits reveals numerous contributors participated; the French studio partnered with overseas animators handling movement and effects, to illustrate.

“We plan to recruit slightly more for sure if we have an increase in development in upcoming years,” the executive stated. “However, I envision more of a workshop comprising a handful highly skilled individuals that create a work of art together.” It was stated that their core belief as a studio “aims to keep the key advantages that led to this accomplishment from the start.”

While it may be not the right time to say specifically about future projects — believe me, efforts were made — the developers understand their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of our creations,” a developer said. “The timing isn't right to announce future passions, however, it's crucial to stay true to the DNA of studio through compelling worlds plus innovative play that inspires the team.”

They added that the project originated from the creative director developing his passion title. It is hoped that philosophy we will be able to do as well for future productions.”