Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just one of the best-reviewed games of the year, it's also a huge sales success for an original turn-based game.
Developer Sandfall Interactive has just announced that its debut game has already sold over 500,000 copies across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S in only a single day. "A milestone for us, reached sooner than we'd ever imagined," the team tweeted. "Thank you all."
What's even more impressive is that Expedition 33 managed to breakthrough in sales despite being available at no extra cost via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and despite coming out in the shadow of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, which has been sucking all the air out of the RPG room these last few days.
The two are definitely not directly competing - Expedition 33 has loudly been inspired by the classic JRPGs of yesteryear, while Oblivion Remastered is, well, it's classic Bethesda. But they're both huge, long games that dropped within literal days of each other, and people are more limited for time than ever. (It's me, I'm people.)
In the spirit of joint success, Bethesda even celebrated the indie team's first game with art depicting seven Adoring Fans all cheering around a screen playing Expedition 33 - a cute way to draw some attention to a game that doesn't have the benefit of also being a 19-year-old classic.
Indie publisher Raw Fury also recently discussed how huge shadow drops like Oblivion Remastered normally bury smaller games, such as the company's newly-released classic horror homage Post Trauma, which have "carefully planned" release dates to avoid the industry's behemoths.
Here's 9 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 tips to take on the Paintress.
