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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a top Game of the Year contender, it’s also a massive commercial success. Developer Sandfall Interactive and publisher their publishing partner revealed that this title topped 5 million units in sales, and that’s even with its status as a day-one release through the Game Pass service.

This achievement was a shock to Sandfall. I was convinced that we'd create a solid title achieving reasonable commercial success,” a key executive explained.

Another leading developer pointed out the game's Metacritic rating, now standing at 93, came as perhaps “maybe the biggest shock to the team versus our early predictions and the final result of the field was. Once it was published all staff members was screaming and jumping. It was really frantic.”

The positive reception has led to work on a complimentary expansion for the game featuring fresh areas, adversaries, plus epic encounters, which they said would be out in the next few months.

However, as the title expands, it's unlikely the team will expand. “We have a great team with a strong creative director with a clear direction for the project and also for new ideas. We intend to preserve the small-team dynamic that made this possible and do maybe major titles sequentially,” the producer added.

The size of Sandfall drummed up plenty of debate upon the title's release. Some developers, like Hideo Kojima, viewed Sandfall’s team as the model for a studio. While Sandfall was and is truly compact next to major studios, a quick look at the game's credits shows that numerous contributors were involved; the French studio hired a team in Korea to work on gameplay animations, for example.

“We plan to recruit a little more certainly when facing an increase in development in the coming years,” the executive said. “Yet I picture essentially a craft studio of a few really talented people that create collective masterpieces.” He noted that Sandfall’s vision as a company “is more to maintain the successful elements that enabled this success from the start.”

While it may be premature for the studio to disclose concrete plans regarding upcoming titles — believe me, I attempted to learn more — the developers understand what’s at its core. “Strategic combat, I think it's in the DNA of this project,” a developer remarked. “It's a bit too early to announce our next interests, however, it's crucial to remain faithful to our studio's essence through compelling worlds and engaging mechanics that inspires the team.”

The developer added that the project started with the creative director developing his passion title. It is hoped that philosophy will be repeated in coming projects.”