Summary
- Physical copies of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are selling out quickly due to high demand.
- The game's developer has released a statement explaining that its distribution partners are trying to replenish their stock.
- The turn-based RPG sold one million copies in its first three days.
The team behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has acknowledged that physical editions of the game are running out across various retailers, while confirming that the problem is being looked into. Incredibly, these stock issues have begun cropping up within a week of the launch of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on the Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.
Since rolling out on April 28, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has emerged as one of the biggest sleeper hits in recent times. Being the debut project of Sandfall Interactive, a French studio helmed by former Ubisoft devs, it has achieved widespread critical acclaim and has found incredible popularity at launch. Boosted by these glowing reviews, the turn-based action game's engagement grew to over 120,000 peak concurrent players on Steam alone, and also celebrated one million copies sold within just three days of its release. This success is a double-edged sword, as it now turns out that retailers have been reeling under such great demand for the game, with many of them reporting exhausted stocks.
7 JRPGs That Influenced Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The indie turn-based RPG drew inspiration from many beloved JRPGs of the past.
In a new Twitter post, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 revealed that it was facing a stockout of the game's physical units across multiple outlets just five days after launch. The announcement confirmed that distributors were "looking into re-stocking" as they try to meet the "higher than expected" demand in various regions. It also prompted those interested in buying Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's physical version to keep in touch with their local vendors for additional information regarding the situation. Back in January, the Kepler Interactive-published title witnessed similarly strong demand when its Collector's Edition sold out within days of going live for pre-order.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Physical Copies Sell Out in Less Than a Week
While Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 moving physical units so swiftly is in itself a testament to the game's popularity, what makes this achievement even more impressive is that these sales have taken place despite the game also being available on Xbox Game Pass, which renders any kind of purchase optional for a chunk of its target audience. Moreover, its commercial performance also doesn't seem to be notably impacted by other highly-rated releases, such as The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered and Blue Prince, coming out in the same month.
The highly infectious appeal of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 looks set to take a new form through a live-action film adaptation, which is currently in the works. The Story Kitchen-backed project was first announced in January 2025, around three months before the RPG even came out. It will be intriguing to see how the film translates the magic of the game for the movie-going audience.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 92 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- April 24, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Sandfall Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Kepler Interactive
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Genre(s)
- Turn-Based RPG, JRPG, Fantasy
