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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive GOTY contender, but also an enormous financial hit. Studio the development team along with publisher their publishing partner revealed that this title exceeded 5 million units sold, and that’s in spite of its status as a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement came as an unexpected turn to Sandfall. “I was strongly believing that we would have an enjoyable experience garnering reasonable market performance,” a senior team member explained.

Another leading developer noted this title's Metacritic rating, which currently sits at 93, was the most surprising moment to the team versus “our initial expectations and what the reality turned out to be. Because when it dropped all staff members was screaming and jumping. It was really frantic.”

That success has led to work on a complimentary expansion for the title featuring fresh areas, foes, along with challenging bosses, reportedly is coming in the next few months.

That said, while the game is growing, it's unlikely the team will expand. We've built a great team under clear creative leadership possessing strong ideas for the project plus upcoming innovations. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that made this possible and perhaps create one big game after another,” the producer said.

The studio's scale drummed up plenty of debate following launch. A few well-known creators, including renowned designers, considered the development group as a perfect example for a studio. Despite being indeed a small team next to major studios, one glance at the game's credits indicates numerous contributors participated; Sandfall contracted a Korean team for animation work, as an instance.

“Some hiring will occur a little more for sure when facing an increase in development in upcoming years,” the executive stated. “Yet I picture rather a creative atelier with a small number of highly skilled individuals capable of producing artistic collaborations.” It was stated that Sandfall’s vision as a studio “focuses on preserving the successful elements that enabled this success in the first place.”

Although it's not the right time to disclose concrete plans what’s next — believe me, efforts were made — the developers understand their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, is integral to our identity of this project,” a developer remarked. “It's still premature to be able to tell our next interests, but it's important also to adhere to the DNA of studio through compelling worlds and the interesting gameplay that drives our passion.”

The lead programmer mentioned that the project originated from the visionary pursuing his ideal project. We aspire that's something we can continue with upcoming games.”