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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just an impressive GOTY candidate, it’s also a massive commercial success. Studio the development team and publisher their publishing partner disclosed that the game topped five million copies sold, and that’s in spite of its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement came as quite a shock for the team. I firmly believed that we'd create a good game that would meet some average commercial success,” a key executive commented.

Another leading developer noted this title's Metacritic rating, which currently sits at 93, came as the greatest surprise” for everyone versus what we anticipated and the final result of the field was. When the score released the entire team were cheering loudly. It was really frantic.”

That success has led to work on new free content for players featuring fresh areas, foes, and boss fights, which they said is coming in the next few months.

That said, as the title expands, it's unlikely they'll hire extensively. Our team includes a talented crew guided by a visionary director possessing strong ideas for the project and also for new ideas. We intend to preserve the human scale that worked for this game then develop large projects one by one,” the executive noted.

The studio's scale drummed up plenty of debate upon the title's release. Some developers, like Hideo Kojima, considered the development group as a perfect example for game development. Despite being relatively lean compared to its AAA counterparts, one glance at the game's credits indicates many individuals participated; the French studio contracted a Korean team handling movement and effects, as an instance.

“We plan to recruit slightly more certainly when facing next an upcoming production peak in upcoming years,” they commented. “But I would see essentially a craft studio with a small number of exceptionally gifted creators that create a work of art together.” It was stated that the studio's philosophy as a studio “is more to maintain the key advantages that made this achievement possible originally.”

Despite being premature for the studio to disclose concrete plans about future projects — believe me, efforts were made — they are certain their essential identity. “The turn-based aspect, is integral to our identity of this project,” a developer explained. “The timing isn't right to specify future passions, however, it's crucial to stay true to our creative core with [a] strong narrative universe plus innovative play that inspires the team.”

They added how this game originated from their director pursuing his ideal project. And hopefully that's something we can continue with upcoming games.”