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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a strong GOTY contender, but also a massive sales triumph. Developer the development team along with publisher Kepler Interactive announced that the game exceeded five million copies in sales, this is despite its status as a launch-day addition through the Game Pass service.

The game's performance was an unexpected turn to Sandfall. “I was strongly believing that we'd create an enjoyable experience that would meet reasonable sales results,” the COO and producer commented.

A technical director pointed out this title's Metacritic rating, rated 93 by critics, came as perhaps the greatest surprise” to the studio versus “our initial expectations and the final result of the field was. When the score released all staff members was screaming and jumping. It felt absolutely wild.”

That success prompted work on new free content for the game including novel settings, foes, along with challenging bosses, reportedly will release sometime soon.

Nevertheless, as the title expands, don’t expect the team will expand. “We have an excellent group guided by a visionary director who has a great vision for the project and also for new ideas. We'd like to keep the close-knit size that led to our success and do maybe one big game after another,” the executive added.

The size of Sandfall generated plenty of debate upon the title's release. A few well-known creators, including renowned designers, considered Sandfall’s team as the “ideal” for a studio. While Sandfall was and is truly compact compared to its AAA counterparts, checking the title's staff list shows that many individuals were involved; Sandfall partnered with overseas animators to work on gameplay animations, to illustrate.

“We plan to recruit a bit more for sure when facing a future production surge down the line,” the producer commented. “However, I envision rather a creative atelier comprising a handful exceptionally gifted creators that create artistic collaborations.” He noted that their core belief as a company “is more to maintain the successful elements that made this achievement possible in the first place.”

Although it's premature for the studio to say specifically regarding upcoming titles — believe me, I tried to get them to — the developers understand their essential identity. “Strategic combat, is integral to our identity of our creations,” a developer remarked. “It's a bit too early to announce what will interest us, however, it's crucial to adhere to the DNA of studio featuring rich storytelling and the interesting gameplay that inspires the team.”

They added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began with their director pursuing his ideal project. It is hoped that philosophy we will be able to do in coming projects.”