Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's success impressed Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima so much he invited its devs over to his studio to sign copies of the French JRPG

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 screenshot of the Paintress painting the number 33 onto a distant pillar while Gustave and Sophie watch from the harbor port, framed by a circle of light
(Image credit: Kepler Interactive)

Hideo Kojima has met with some of the creators behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and I'm guessing their digital likenesses are being absorbed into Kojima Productions' holographic vault as we speak.

The famed Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding 2 director took to social media to share that a few of the lead talent responsible for this year's massively successful J-inspired RPG visited him at his Japan-based studio Kojima Productions.

Sandfall Interactive's CEO and creative director, Guillaume Broche, CCO and producer, Francois Meurisse, and CTO and lead programmer, Tom Guillermin, were all pictured alongside the eccentric director and the studio's knightly mascot, alongside publisher Kepler Interactive's CEO and founder, Alexis Garavaryan.

"So proud and humbled to meet with Hideo Kojima," Meurisse posted.

The team even signed two physical copies of the game for Kojima, and wrote "For Those Who Come After" on the studio's visitors' wall, a reference to a game-shaking spoilery moment and a song used for a pivotal boss battle.

As with every visit that Kojima Productions hosts, the meet-up obviously led to jokey speculation that Hideo Kojima simply invited the folks at Sandfall Interactive to digitally scan them as he's known to do to his creative friends.

The first Death Stranding had everyone from Alan Wake's Sam Lake to Conan O'Brien, for some reason, scanned into the game, while Death Stranding 2: On the Beach added even more celebrity cameos to the mix, with Stray's co-director Vivien Mermet-Guyenet and producer Swann Martin-Raget appearing as holographic quest givers. Maybe the Clair Obscur team will get the same treatment in a potential Death Stranding 3.

Doom co-creator John Romero says games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are the future, because they "make AAA studios go, 'Wait a minute, we need to start doing this'''

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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