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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top GOTY contender, it’s also a huge sales triumph. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner disclosed that the game topped five million copies in sales, this is despite its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement was a surprise to the developers. I was convinced that we'd create an enjoyable experience achieving some average market performance,” a senior team member explained.

A technical director remarked this title's Metacritic rating, now standing at 93, was the greatest surprise” to the studio compared to our early predictions and the final result proved to be. When the score released all staff members was screaming and jumping. It was really frantic.”

That success prompted the studio creating a complimentary expansion for players including novel settings, adversaries, along with challenging bosses, reportedly would be out sometime soon.

Nevertheless, while the game is growing, it's unlikely the team will expand. “We have a talented crew guided by a visionary director with a clear direction for our work and future concepts. Our goal is to maintain the close-knit size that led to our success and do maybe major titles sequentially,” the producer added.

The size of Sandfall drummed up plenty of debate when the game came out. A few well-known creators, including renowned designers, looked at this studio as the “ideal” for game development. Although the team is and was relatively lean versus large developers, checking the game's credits reveals numerous contributors worked on it; the French studio hired a team in Korea for animation work, to illustrate.

“We will hire a little more definitely when facing a future production surge in the coming years,” the producer said. “Yet I picture essentially a craft studio of a few highly skilled individuals that create a work of art together.” He noted that Sandfall’s vision as a company “focuses on preserving the strengths that enabled this success in the first place.”

Although it's too early for Sandfall to reveal exact details what’s next — and trust me, efforts were made — the developers understand what’s at its core. “The turn-based aspect, I think it's in the DNA of what we built,” they said. “The timing isn't right to announce future passions, however, it's crucial to remain faithful to the DNA of studio through compelling worlds and the interesting gameplay that inspires the team.”

The developer mentioned how this game started with the visionary developing his passion title. It is hoped that philosophy will be repeated in coming projects.”