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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 devs shout out fellow French studio's climbing sim launching on Steam and PS5 with clever nod to their J'RPG: "Expedition 69's favorite game is out!!"

News
By Anthony McGlynn published 30 January 2026

Montpellier studios are sticking together

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead Gustave faces a gommage
(Image credit: Sandfall Interactive)
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Sandfall Entertainment, the studio behind blockbuster J'RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, has taken some time to shout out fellow French devs on the release of their game. While the nod is nice on its own, it contains a funny reference to Sandfall's hit release.

The game in question is Cairn, a climbing sim about being the first to reach the top of a particularly treacherous mountain, and it comes from France-based outfit The Game Bakers. Not only is the team French, but they're apparently based in Montpellier, the same southern city as Clair Obscur's creators, prompting some recognition.

"Expedition 69's favorite game is out!!" the official Sandfall account posts on Twitter. "Congratulations to our Montpellier friends at The Game Bakers!" What's clever here is that to people who aren't familiar with Expedition 33, this seems like a silly joke, but there's more to it.

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  • Two characters standing on a glowing battlefield during Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 controversially wins Best Independent Game at The Game Awards
  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Gustave in a French-inspired outfit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director says the RPG's success was "completely unexpected from pretty much everybody"
Cairn - Launch Trailer - YouTube Cairn - Launch Trailer - YouTube
Watch On

See, Expedition 69 actually existed in Clair Obscur. They were sent to gather information, and decided to help map out the Continent on their travels. This included making fingerholds on cliffs and mountains for anyone following in their wake, making them known as an expedition of climbers. Sadly, they never made it home, but their spirit is felt by anyone who finds traversing the Continent that much easier.

All of which is to say, that particular expedition would definitely enjoy what Cairn has to offer. Aiming to emulate the experience of actually tackling an unforgiving mountainside, you have to consider each and every movement on your way up Mount Kami, as well as manage your hiking supplies. The intricacies make it seem daunting, but there are multiple difficulties to help take the edge off.

You can check out Cairn's Steam page here, and it's also on PS5. Hopefully you'll fare better than the Continent's travelers.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's beloved Esquie was pitched as being like Mulan's own lovable giant, but his actor saw another character in him: "I pictured Baymax from Big Hero 6"

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CATEGORIES
PC Gaming PS5 Platforms PlayStation
Anthony McGlynn
Anthony McGlynn
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Contributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

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