“Authentic and made with love” – The secret to the success of Expedition 33
Since its release on April 24, 2025, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has taken the gaming world by storm. The extraordinary role-playing game, which scores with an unusual turn-based combat system and a fantastically beautiful art style, has sold millions of copies and been celebrated by critics. But instead of simply copying the formula for success, Sandfall Interactive is boldly taking a different path.
Creative Director Guillaume Broche explained in an interview with the Washington Post:
“We don’t want to be limited by story, graphic style, or gameplay in our next game. It should just feel authentic—and be made with love.”
This sentence sums up what makes Sandfall so special. Where other studios try to build on a hit, the team prefers to try something new. The creative freedom that Expedition 33 made possible will remain at the heart of their work in the future.
Everything is back to square one – a franchise full of possibilities
It’s already clear that Clair Obscur won’t stop at a single adventure. “Clair Obscur is the name of the franchise. Expedition 33 is just one of the stories we want to tell in it,” Broche revealed back in the summer. The studio is making it clear that the world of Clair Obscur will live on – but perhaps in a completely different form, perhaps even in a different genre.
Whether it will be an action game, a visual narrative, or something completely new remains to be seen. Sandfall Interactive wants to keep all doors open in order to maintain its creative spark. For Broche, “authenticity” is more than just a buzzword—it is a promise that every game the studio produces will have its own soul.
Fans can therefore look forward to an exciting future. Expedition 33 may have been a milestone – but what comes next could finally redefine the boundaries between art, storytelling, and game mechanics.
