Between its lead writer originally auditioning for a voice acting role and its first-time composer being discovered on SoundCloud, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has a remarkably unconventional development history. The game’s core studio itself, Sandfall, only has a fraction of in-house employees compared to the vast external work that was outsourced, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the golden standard for AA development due to what was achieved in nearly every facet of game design, rivaling AAA games of its turn-based RPG ilk.
A skeletal framework has been laid if Sandfall wished to develop a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sequel, but it could also choose to close the book—or retire its paint brush, so to speak—if it had another original IP concept in mind. Either way, it’ll be tremendously exciting to see what Sandfall works on next, and the same AA-style game with AAA-levels of luster will likely be what players anticipate. Interestingly, Sandfall has since addressed whether it would like to “expand the scale of development in the future,” and whichever direction it eventually goes could have meaningful repercussions.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Developer Reveals Expansion Plans After AA Success
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall Interactive reveals whether it plans to expand in the future.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is at a Crossroads in Terms of Its Future Development Methodology
Because so much of its development was outsourced, it’s not alarming to think that Sandfall might consider an expansion at some point in the future. That said, in an interview with Automaton, Sandfall CTO and lead programmer Tom Guillermin spoke about the possibility of the studio’s expansion:
“For now, I think a small team size is good. I don’t know what the ideal team size would be (laughs). However, if we were to make another full-price turn-based RPG, I think the current size would be just right.”
This comment suggests that Guillermin and the team are content with the process they have established with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s development, but that a different genre or style of game could necessitate some kind of reassessment when or if Sandfall crosses that bridge. If Sandfall can continue outsourcing help to the same degree of quality, its studio may not need to blossom and can potentially afford to stay tight-knit.
Depending on how amicable and effective it found its work on the game to be, a smaller in-house staff may not be “ideal,” yet it obviously resulted in an arguably astonishing product with outsourced development factored into the equation.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is Sure to Be an Inspiration for AA Games
As for concerns regarding rising development costs and the future of game development, Sandfall CEO and creative director Guillaume Broche seems confident in AA-class output:
“As costs continue to grow, I think we’ll see more and more companies creating AA-class games like ours. Thanks to Unreal Engine, it’s now easier to understand the amount of resources we need to allocate to the scale of production, and we can now develop interesting games efficiently with a relatively small number of people.”
So, at least with Unreal Engine as a backdrop or safety net, it appears as if Sandfall is perfectly content where it’s situated without having massive AAA budgets looming over its projects. Indeed, while a Sandfall game with a AAA budget could be spectacular, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's success story is proof that a bigger pool of money to draw from wasn’t required to create a visually stunning game, nor did it need a larger staff at Sandfall to accomplish what it did through additional means.
Not every AA or even indie game may strive to be the next Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, to be fair. But, if nothing else, Sandfall has concretely argued the competency of AA development during a polarizing moment in the industry where AAA development can be highly perilous.
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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
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Playable
- PC Release Date
- April 24, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- April 24, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- April 24, 2025
- Genre(s)
- Turn-Based RPG, JRPG, Fantasy
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 42.33 GB
- Wiki
