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The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top Game of the Year candidate, but also a massive sales triumph. Developer the development team along with publisher Kepler Interactive disclosed that the game topped 5 million units in sales, and that’s even with it being a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

The game's performance came as quite an unexpected turn for the team. I firmly believed that we would have a solid title achieving moderate commercial success,” the COO and producer commented.

A technical director pointed out that Clair Obscur’s Metacritic rating, now standing at 93, was the most surprising moment to the team relative to what we anticipated and what the reality turned out to be. Once it was published the entire team was screaming and jumping. The energy was electric.”

The positive reception prompted work on a free update for the title including novel settings, enemies, along with challenging bosses, which they said would be out sometime soon.

That said, as the title expands, fans shouldn't anticipate they'll hire extensively. Our team includes a talented crew with a strong creative director who has a great vision for the project and future concepts. Our goal is to maintain the human scale that led to our success then develop one big game after another,” the producer said.

Their team size drummed up significant conversation when the game came out. Some developers, including renowned designers, viewed Sandfall’s team as a perfect example for game development. While Sandfall was and is relatively lean versus large developers, a quick look at the title's staff list shows that many individuals worked on it; the French studio hired a team in Korea handling movement and effects, for example.

“We will hire a bit more for sure should there be an increase in development down the line,” the producer said. “Yet I picture essentially a craft studio of a few really talented people that can make artistic collaborations.” He noted that their core belief as developers “is more to maintain the successful elements that made this achievement possible from the start.”

Despite being premature for the studio to reveal exact details about future projects — believe me, efforts were made — they are certain what’s at its core. “The turn-based aspect, forms the foundation of this project,” they remarked. “It's still premature to specify our next interests, but it's important also to stay true to our creative core featuring rich storytelling plus innovative play that excites us.”

They added that the project started with the visionary developing his passion title. It is hoped this approach we will be able to do in coming projects.”