Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Team Admits the RPG's Success Has Surprised Them — 'It Was Not Supposed to Be Big'

The manager of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 ever believed the turned-based RPG was going to beryllium "cool," but had nary thought it would get this "big."

Talking to Radio Times Gaming pursuing this year's Golden Joysticks awards, originative manager Guillaume Broche spoke candidly astir the studio's work, admitting that the game's reception from fans and critics alike has been truthful unexpected, saying "nobody truly understands what's happening."

"I deliberation radical don't truly recognize that, present it's go big, but earlier the launch, it was not expected to beryllium big," Broche said. "I deliberation we each felt the aforesaid thing. It's going to beryllium cool. It's not going to beryllium big, it's going to beryllium cool. And what's happening contiguous is like, arsenic we say, cipher truly understands what's happening.

"It's a weird feeling, erstwhile you enactment your bosom retired into the satellite and the satellite embraces it and gives you truthful overmuch emotion back. We get truthful overmuch emotion from the players... it's truthful touching and unthinkable that it's precise hard to explain."

Ben Starr — who voices Verso successful the RPG — feels the same, adding: "It was ne'er intended to beryllium arsenic large arsenic it is. It's turned into this benignant of taste moment, phenomenon, but that's conscionable due to the fact that the crippled is precise honest, I think. And a batch of radical person bought into that.

"I don't deliberation anyone expected this due to the fact that it's a tiny game. No 1 expected those numbers, and we've each conscionable been messaging each different thinking, this is, well, this is conscionable silly. This is conscionable silly now. Everyone conscionable stop. It's a silly joke. But yeah, it's been precise cool."

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launched connected April 24 crossed PC and console, but besides consecutive into Xbox Game Pass arsenic a day-one title. In IGN's 9/10 reappraisal of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, we described it arsenic a "modern RPG classic," adding: "In truthful galore ways, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 reminded maine of galore classical and modern RPGs I love, but developer Sandfall genuinely understood wherefore those games are peculiar and made the pieces it borrowed its own."

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has sold 5 cardinal copies successful 5 months, making it 1 of the biggest hits of the year. It besides received a record-breaking 12 nominations astatine this year's The Game Awards, and is up for Best Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Audio, Best Independent Game, Best Debut Independent Game, and Best RPG, arsenic good arsenic the ceremony's coveted Game of the Year gong. Three of its performers are besides up for Best Performance.

If that's convinced you to springiness it a go, beryllium definite to cheque retired our tips for the important things to cognize earlier going into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The workplace precocious published update 1.4.0, adding cardinal features similar a Battle Retry enactment alongside a big of quality-of-life changes, ocular improvements, and bug fixes.

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Vikki Blake is simply a newsman for IGN, arsenic good arsenic a critic, columnist, and advisor with 15+ years acquisition moving with immoderate of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's besides a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her astatine BlueSky.