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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive Game of the Year candidate, it’s also a huge sales triumph. Studio Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner revealed that the game topped 5 million units sold, this is even with it being a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement came as quite a surprise for the team. I firmly believed that we'd create a solid title achieving moderate commercial success,” the COO and producer stated.

The CTO and lead programmer noted this title's Metacritic rating, rated 93 by critics, came as the greatest surprise” for everyone relative to our early predictions and what the reality of the field was. Because when it dropped everybody in the studio was screaming and jumping. The energy was electric.”

The positive reception has led to Sandfall developing a free update for players with a new environment, foes, plus epic encounters, as announced is coming in the next few months.

That said, while the game is growing, it's unlikely the studio to grow. “We have 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 led to our success and perhaps create large projects one by one,” the producer noted.

The size of Sandfall generated plenty of debate when the game came out. A few well-known creators, such as the famed director, looked at the development group as the “ideal” for a studio. Despite being relatively lean next to major studios, one glance at the game's credits reveals numerous contributors were involved; Sandfall contracted a Korean team for animation work, for example.

“We plan to recruit a little more certainly when facing a future production surge in the coming years,” the producer commented. “Yet I picture essentially a craft studio comprising a handful highly skilled individuals that can make collective masterpieces.” It was stated that Sandfall’s vision as developers “aims to keep the key advantages that made this achievement possible originally.”

While it may be too early for Sandfall to say specifically what’s next — and trust me, efforts were made — they are certain their essential identity. “Strategic combat, is integral to our identity of our creations,” they remarked. “It's a bit too early to announce our next interests, however, it's crucial to remain faithful to our creative core featuring rich storytelling plus innovative play that excites us.”

The developer added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 started with the visionary pursuing his ideal project. We aspire that's something we can continue in coming projects.”