"How wrong I was" – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Ben Starr told friends to keep expectations "in check" before the RPG's launch because "this isn't going to be a smash hit"

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 screenshot of Verso, a man with black hair with white streaks running through his fringe — (Image credit: Kepler Interactive)

I feel like you don't need to be told at this point about how big of a deal Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 became. It is already the most-awarded game ever, and that lead keeps growing. It is also on course to be the second game ever to take home the big five Game of the Year awards after Baldur's Gate 3 in 2023. Safe to say it's pretty big. But it's a game that almost felt like it came out of nowhere from first-time developer Sandfall Interactive, so naturally, many are surprised at how well the game actually did.

Among them is lead actor Ben Starr, who has spoken with Aztech: Forgotten Gods narrative designer Alexa Ray Corriea on the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences YouTube channel. Starr recalls, "2025 was an interesting year for me because I remember speaking to you about Expedition 33 coming out and I really played it down to a lot of people." And while the actor admits, "I don't like hyping up my work really before it's happened. I really like it to speak for itself and then we kind of talk about it." He wasn't expecting it to become so huge.

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Starr admits that "I think there was so much excitement about the potential" of what Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 could be to people, but "that I kept being like, just keep your expectations in check." He explains, "You know, it's a team. They've made it. It's a brilliant expression of what they want to make, but this isn't going to be like a smash hit video game."

"And how wrong I was."

Starr continues, "It wasn't a lack of faith in the material. I believed in the material a long time before that ever came out." Starr also says that anyone he spoke to knew "how excited I was about this video game," but adds, "no one could have predicted that."

He explains that with 2025, "I thought it was going to be the year of me dressing up as a clown at the BAFTAs. I thought was going to be my biggest contribution to the gaming landscape – me being an idiot with Balatro."

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Ben Starr worries the video game industry will learn the wrong lessons from its success.