Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 creative director Guillaume Broche says Xbox Game Pass "lowered that barrier of entry" for his beloved turn-based RPG, which sits in a genre that "might put people who prefer more real-time action games off."
In a new post on the official Xbox Wire blog, it's revealed that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was 2025's biggest new third-party game launch on Game Pass – definitely no small feat, but it's perhaps unsurprising given its immense popularity and success. Broche tells Xbox Wire: "This year has been so far beyond what any of us could have imagined, and it's down to how passionate and supportive our fans have been to make that a reality. It's really nerve-wracking to be a new studio releasing our first game, but the support of everyone has really made everything feel like a dream."
It's not necessarily that the game's popularity led to its huge Game Pass stats, though, as Broche suggests it may have worked the other way around – at least, in part. Being on Xbox's subscription service allowed for "a lot of people" to "try our game when maybe they might not have before," he explains.
"The turn-based RPG genre has a lot of fans but sometimes it might put people who prefer more real-time action games off, but Game Pass lowered that barrier of entry," he continues. "They could just try it and see how it feels. So a lot of curious players could start the game, explore Lumière and the early game, and realize there's a lot to enjoy here, even if they weren't expecting it at first."
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has had an amazing year – it's bagged a record-breaking number of nominations at The Game Awards 2025, and it already won seven accolades at the Golden Joystick Awards, including the Ultimate Game of the Year award. We'll just have to wait and see how many of those Game Awards nominations turn into wins next week on December 11.
