Summary
- Sandfall wants to follow in the footsteps of Half-Life 2 and Ocarina of Time by continuing to work with small teams.
- The developer plans to keep future teams under 50 members.
- Sandfall believes this approach allows for “good decisions and great creativity.”
One Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 dev recently talked about how the studio wants to follow in the footsteps of successful titles like Half-Life 2 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time by keeping its teams small. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been the talk of the town since it came out, taking the gaming community by surprise, and it seems its developer wants to stay true to the same formula that led them to success when developing future titles.
Days pass, and Sandfall Interactive’s turn-based JRPG becomes more and more popular, with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 recently achieving the impressive sales milestone of 3.3 million copies in 33 days. Although 2025 was already shaping up to be a memorable year for video games—with upcoming titles like Death Stranding 2, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, or even the release of the Nintendo Switch 2—Clair Obscur broke into the industry unexpectedly, becoming what many consider the best game of 2025 so far. Now, one of the game’s developers has shared the studio’s vision for the future.
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Following Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s impressive success, it may be natural to think that developer Sandfall is planning to grow the company and expand; however, the studio’s COO and producer, Francois Meurisse, recently revealed during an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that Sandfall’s vision is to continue working the same way, with “less than 50 people on board.” The studio wants to remain true to what made the game successful in the first place, with Meurisse saying the team aims to follow in the footsteps of Ocarina of Time and Half-Life 2, working with small teams because “that kind of size allows for good decisions and great creativity.”
Clair Obscur Studio Aims to Stay Small with Future Teams Under 50
Meurisse explained that Sandfall will focus on one project at a time, with the “smartness of a small group of passionate people.” The recipe for success the studio followed to create the game was pretty unique, as the Clair Obscur team was assembled in very random ways according to its director—such as the lead writer, who was found via a Reddit audition for voice actors.
While it’s true that iconic titles like Half-Life 2 and Ocarina of Time were developed by smaller teams than today’s typical AAA projects require, they didn’t have as few as 50 employees—though that’s Sandfall’s goal. In addition to sticking with small teams, the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director had previously shared advice for developers, revealing that another secret behind the game’s success lies in authenticity, teamwork, and creating games one would genuinely enjoy playing.
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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
