Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 emerged as one of the biggest hit games of 2025. This significant commercial success has provided developer Sandfall Interactive with the financial opportunity to expand its operations for its next game. However, the studio has stated it will not pursue this expansion, citing a strong philosophical reason.
In an interview with Edge, studio boss Guillaume Broche confirmed that the immense success of their debut title, Expedition 33, has not tempted the company to grow. His reasoning hinges on the belief that restrictions foster better creation.
“I think it`s good to have limitations when you are creative,” Broche stated.
Broche further elaborated that scaling up is not appealing because the leadership team prefers hands-on game development over managerial duties.
“It`s the best way to be the best version of yourself. We could scale up now we have a lot more money, but I would say it`s not tempting for us, because even the management team and myself, we`d have to be hands-on and doing things for ourselves,” he explained. “We love making games more than we love managing, so we want to keep doing that. These past five years were some of the best of my life, and I want to be happy like that again.”
The studio head maintains a clear development philosophy: “adapt the game to the team, and not the other way around.” For Expedition 33, Sandfall`s primary aim was to create a game that its own developers genuinely wanted to play.
He argues that sincerity in development ultimately benefits the player.
“It`s making a game that you want to play. It`s contradictory, but [try to] not care too much about the players, because if you care about your game, it means you care about the players ultimately,” he said. “The best way for me to care about people is to make something that is sincere. If it feels human, [even] if there are little flaws here and there, it`s forgivable. It just has to have a strong soul and identity.”
Expedition 33 achieved massive commercial success, selling over 5 million copies, and garnered numerous accolades, including a record nine wins at The Game Awards, topping the list with the overall Game of the Year award.
The game was not without controversy, facing scrutiny regarding its designation as an `independent` title and having its Game of the Year award revoked by The Indie Game Awards due to concerns over the use of AI. Nonetheless, its unexpected popularity inspired hope for smaller-budget titles succeeding in a market often dominated by expensive AAA sequels.
While Sandfall has yet to announce its next endeavor, the developers face high expectations following the overwhelming critical and commercial triumph of Expedition 33, which was notably named GameSpot’s Game of the Year.