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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top GOTY candidate, but also an enormous sales triumph. Studio the development team along with publisher their publishing partner announced that this title surpassed 5 million units sold, this is in spite of its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement came as quite a surprise to Sandfall. I was convinced that we would have a solid title achieving some average commercial success,” a senior team member commented.

Another leading developer pointed out that Clair Obscur’s critical score, rated 93 by critics, came as “maybe the biggest shock to the team relative to our early predictions and the actual outcome of the field was. Because when it dropped all staff members was screaming and jumping. The energy was electric.”

The positive reception prompted work on a free update for the title with a new environment, foes, plus epic encounters, as announced is coming sometime soon.

However, while the game is growing, fans shouldn't anticipate they'll hire extensively. “We have a great team under clear creative leadership who has a great vision for this game and also for new ideas. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that worked for this game then develop major titles sequentially,” they added.

The studio's scale sparked significant conversation when the game came out. A few well-known creators, like Hideo Kojima, looked at this studio as the model for creative teams. While Sandfall was and is relatively lean versus large developers, checking the title's staff list shows that dozens of people participated; Sandfall hired a team in Korea handling movement and effects, for example.

“We plan to recruit a bit more definitely if we have a future production surge in the coming years,” they commented. “But I would see essentially a craft studio with a small number of highly skilled individuals capable of producing artistic collaborations.” It was stated that Sandfall’s vision as a studio “is more to maintain the successful elements that led to this accomplishment originally.”

While it may be premature for the studio to say specifically what’s next — believe me, I attempted to learn more — they are certain their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, I think it's in the DNA of what we built,” the lead programmer explained. “The timing isn't right to specify our next interests, yet we must to remain faithful to our creative core featuring rich storytelling and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

The developer noted how this game began with the creative director developing his passion title. It is hoped that's something we will be able to do with upcoming games.”