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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive Game of the Year candidate, but also a massive commercial success. Studio the development team along with publisher their publishing partner revealed that this title exceeded five million copies in sales, and that’s in spite of its status as a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

This achievement was a surprise for the team. “I was strongly believing that we'd create an enjoyable experience achieving reasonable sales results,” a key executive stated.

Another leading developer remarked the game's critical score, rated 93 by critics, came as the most surprising moment for everyone compared to what we anticipated and the final result proved to be. Once it was published the entire team celebrated excitedly. The energy was electric.”

That success prompted Sandfall developing a complimentary expansion for the game with a new environment, foes, along with challenging bosses, which they said is coming in the next few months.

However, as the title expands, it's unlikely they'll hire extensively. “We have a talented crew with a strong creative director who has a great vision for the project plus upcoming innovations. We intend to preserve the human scale that made this possible then develop one big game after another,” the executive noted.

Their team size sparked a storm of discussion when the game came out. Some developers, including renowned designers, considered this studio as a perfect example for creative teams. While Sandfall was and is truly compact compared to its AAA counterparts, one glance at the title's staff list shows that numerous contributors were involved; Sandfall contracted a Korean team to work on gameplay animations, for example.

“Some hiring will occur a little more definitely if we have a future production surge down the line,” they stated. “Yet I picture rather a creative atelier comprising a handful exceptionally gifted creators that create artistic collaborations.” It was stated that their core belief as a company “aims to keep the successful elements that enabled this success in the first place.”

Although it's not the right time to disclose concrete plans regarding upcoming titles — rest assured, I attempted to learn more — they are certain what’s at its core. “The turn-based aspect, I think it's in the DNA of what we built,” they remarked. “The timing isn't right to announce our next interests, but it's important also to remain faithful to our creative core with [a] strong narrative universe and the interesting gameplay that excites us.”

The lead programmer added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 originated from the visionary pursuing his ideal project. We aspire that philosophy we will be able to do with upcoming games.”