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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only a top GOTY candidate, it’s also a huge commercial success. Developer the development team and publisher their publishing partner disclosed that the game topped 5 million units in sales, this is in spite of it being a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

Its success came as quite an unexpected turn for the team. “I was strongly believing that we would have an enjoyable experience garnering moderate sales results,” a senior team member commented.

A technical director noted this title's review aggregate, which currently sits at 93, was “maybe the biggest shock to the team relative to “our initial expectations and what the reality proved to be. Because when it dropped the entire team were cheering loudly. It felt absolutely wild.”

This triumph prompted work on new free content for the title with a new environment, adversaries, along with challenging bosses, reportedly will release in the next few months.

Nevertheless, while the game is growing, it's unlikely the studio to grow. Our team includes a talented crew guided by a visionary director who has a great vision for our work plus upcoming innovations. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that worked for this game and perhaps create one big game after another,” the producer noted.

Their team size generated a storm of discussion upon the title's release. Certain industry figures, such as the famed director, considered this studio as a perfect example for creative teams. Despite being truly compact versus large developers, one glance at Expedition 33’s credits indicates dozens of people participated; the French studio partnered with overseas animators for animation work, as an instance.

“We plan to recruit a bit more certainly should there be a future production surge in upcoming years,” the executive commented. “Yet I picture more of a workshop of a few exceptionally gifted creators that can make collective masterpieces.” It was stated that the studio's philosophy as a company “is more to maintain the successful elements that enabled this success from the start.”

Although it's premature for the studio to say specifically what’s next — rest assured, efforts were made — they are certain their fundamental principles. “The turn-based aspect, is integral to our identity of this project,” a developer remarked. “It's still premature to announce what will interest us, yet we must to stay true to our studio's essence with [a] strong narrative universe and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

The developer mentioned that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began with their director developing his passion title. We aspire this approach we can continue with upcoming games.”