After 5 Million Sales and a 93 Metacritic, Clair Obscur Devs Say They’ll Stay Small

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has become a major hit: Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive announced the game has topped 5 million units sold, and the studio says it plans to stay small even as it builds on that success.

1. Sales and reception
2. Free update details
3. Studio size and hiring
4. Future direction and creative DNA
5. Credits and collaborations

Sales and reception

Sandfall and Kepler announced that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has sold over 5 million units. Importantly, that figure comes despite the game launching day one on Xbox Game Pass. In addition, the game holds a high critical score: its Metacritic rating currently sits at 93.

Free update details

The studio is already working on a free update. Sandfall says the patch will add a new environment, new enemies, and new boss fights. According to COO and producer Francois Meurisse, the update will arrive within the “upcoming month[s].”

Studio size and hiring

Sandfall says it intends to remain a small studio and keep the “human scale” that it credits for the game’s quality. Meurisse said, “We have a great team with a strong creative director [Guillaume Broche] who has a great vision for this game and also for new ideas. We’d like to keep the human scale that worked for this game and do maybe one big game after another.”

That said, the studio confirmed it will hire selectively. Meurisse added, “We will hire a bit more for sure if we have next an upcoming production peak in upcoming years,” and described Sandfall as “more of a workshop of a few really talented people that can make a work of art together.”

Future direction and creative DNA

Lead programmer Tom Guillermin highlighted the team’s surprise at the reception. He said Clair Obscur’s success — and its Metacritic score — was “maybe the biggest shock” to the team. He also noted the game’s core systems: “The turn-based aspect, I think it’s in the DNA of what we built.”

Guillermin added that it is too early to outline specific next projects, but the studio wants to stay true to its strengths: a strong narrative universe and engaging gameplay. He noted the game began with Broche “work[ing] on his dream game. And hopefully that’s something we will be able to do as well for future productions.”

Credits and collaborations

The size of Sandfall drew attention after release, with some industry figures praising the studio model. For example, Hideo Kojima described the team size as “ideal.”

However, the credits show that dozens of people worked on Expedition 33 and that Sandfall used external contractors. For instance, the studio hired a team in Korea to handle gameplay animations, and a report notes that it was not made by only 30 people — in short, the final product involved a broader group of contributors. See this look at the credits for more detail.