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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top Game of the Year candidate, but also a massive commercial success. Studio Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive revealed that the game surpassed five million copies sold, and that’s even with its status as a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

Its success was a shock to the developers. I was convinced that we'd create an enjoyable experience garnering some average sales results,” a key executive explained.

Another leading developer pointed out the game's review aggregate, now standing at 93, came as the greatest surprise” to the team versus “our initial expectations and what the reality turned out to be. Because when it dropped the entire team celebrated excitedly. It felt absolutely wild.”

That success resulted in the studio creating a free update for the title with a new environment, enemies, plus epic encounters, which they said 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 with a strong creative director who has a great vision for our work plus upcoming innovations. We intend to preserve the human scale that worked for this game and perhaps create major titles sequentially,” the executive noted.

The studio's scale generated significant conversation upon the title's release. Some developers, including renowned designers, looked at Sandfall’s team as a perfect example for game development. Despite being indeed a small team compared to its AAA counterparts, one glance at the game's credits reveals dozens of people were involved; Sandfall hired a team in Korea to work on gameplay animations, for example.

“We will hire a little more definitely should there be next an upcoming production peak down the line,” the executive stated. “However, I envision more of a workshop with a small number of exceptionally gifted creators that can make artistic collaborations.” He noted that the studio's philosophy as a studio “aims to keep the key advantages that enabled this success originally.”

Despite being premature for the studio to reveal exact details about future projects — rest assured, I attempted to learn more — they are certain their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of this project,” a developer explained. “It's still premature to specify future passions, however, it's crucial to remain faithful to the DNA of studio featuring rich storytelling and the interesting gameplay that excites us.”

The developer added that the project began with the visionary developing his passion title. We aspire that's something we can continue with upcoming games.”