Despite Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 selling 3.3 million copies in 33 days – no, seriously – and receiving GOTY shouts from plenty, the mood at the studio was quite different around launch. Oblivion Remastered had just been released, and the developers at Sandfall Interactive were "pretty nervous" about what that could mean for them.
YouTuber SkillUp has posted a chonky video looking at the making of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, from its inception to its current state. One of the sections that caught my attention, though, captures the mood before launch and the shift that occurred within days.
As the video explains, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 built a steady buzz from its reveal. A cool-looking turn-based RPG with ambitious graphics will do that, though Clair Obscur continued to intrigue whenever it showed up on the marketing beat – be it a reminder of its premise or casting reveals that include the likes of Daredevil's Charlie Cox.
With a release date of April 24 pencilled in things looked pretty good, too – there was little in terms of AAA RPGs to suck the air out of the room. But things looked good until they didn't. Despite being the worst-kept secret in games, Oblivion Remastered was released just days prior with little build-up but much fanfare.
Art director Nicholas Maxson-Francombe admits the studio was "a bit concerned." There was still a sense among the team that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 had an audience who would appreciate what it offers, but Maxson-Francombe says everyone was still "pretty nervous about it."
Thankfully, it all worked out. Clair Obsur: Expedition 33 launched to critical acclaim and, in a twist of fate, even got some endorsement from Bethesda, who clearly did not want to be seen as drowning the J'RPG out.
Not only that, but the sales flew past any internal expectations that Sandfall itself had. "We expected some kind of success because we knew what game we had – we were the first players of the game and we really loved it," lead game designer Michael Nohra says. "When you have a team that love the game they expect it to succeed. But not to the level it had, to be honest. Way beyond what we would have expected."
If you want a vibe of what the studio looked like when the idea of success became more real, Maxson-Francombe says they never screamed so loud as when the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 review embargo broke and they saw the praise roll in. They even had "campaign and croissant" ready to go, which I imagine would ease any lingering nerves.
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