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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top GOTY contender, it’s also an enormous commercial success. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher Kepler Interactive revealed that the game topped 5 million units sold, this is in spite of its status as a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

This achievement came as a surprise to the developers. “I was strongly believing that we'd create a solid title garnering some average market performance,” the COO and producer explained.

The CTO and lead programmer noted this title's critical score, which currently sits at 93, came as perhaps the greatest surprise” to the studio relative to what we anticipated and the final result turned out to be. Once it was published the entire team were cheering loudly. The energy was electric.”

This triumph resulted in work on a complimentary expansion for the game featuring fresh areas, foes, plus epic encounters, as announced is coming within the “upcoming month[s]”.

However, despite the game's evolution, don’t expect they'll hire extensively. We've built a talented crew under clear creative leadership with a clear direction for the project and also for new ideas. Our goal is to maintain the small-team dynamic that led to our success then develop one big game after another,” they noted.

The studio's scale generated plenty of debate following launch. Certain industry figures, such as the famed director, viewed the development group as the “ideal” for creative teams. Despite being relatively lean compared to its AAA counterparts, checking the title's staff list indicates numerous contributors participated; the French studio hired a team in Korea handling movement and effects, as an instance.

“We will hire a little more for sure should there be an increase in development in the coming years,” the producer said. “But I would see more of a workshop with a small number of really talented people that can make a work of art together.” It was stated that their core belief as developers “aims to keep the key advantages that made this achievement possible from the start.”

Despite being premature for the studio to reveal exact details regarding upcoming titles — and trust me, I tried to get them to — the team does know their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, I think it's in the DNA of what we built,” a developer remarked. “The timing isn't right to specify future passions, yet we must to stay true to the DNA of studio featuring rich storytelling and engaging mechanics that excites us.”

The lead programmer noted how this game started with their director developing his passion title. We aspire that philosophy we will be able to do with upcoming games.”