To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Sandfall Interactive’s debut Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5 title Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 swept the end-of-year awards season, with the JRPG-style turn-based “FRPG” taking home nine awards at The Game Awards — including Game of the Year — as well as many others from other organizations as well.
With numerous accolades secured, Sandfall has now shifted its focus to future projects like its next game. But notably, those who expect the developer to grow in size following Expedition 33’s massive success will be surprised to learn that the studio has no plans to do so whatsoever.
I’m sure the thought of expanding Sandfall significantly and ambitiously trying to tackle a bigger and bolder project than Expedition 33 is, at the very least, a little tempting, but I fully understand why Broche and others at the studio hold the position they do, and I admire them for it.
While Expedition 33 wasn’t made by a team of just 30 developers as is so often rumored — external contractors contributed majorly to the award-winning RPG — Sandfall does have a tight core team, and undoubtedly, that small size helps the studio stick to a unified vision and focus on development rather than management.
The decision to steer clear of some very strong opportunities for growth in order to retain the same development process that led to the creation of Expedition 33 speaks to Sandfall’s prioritization of passion and enjoyment over maximizing profit and success. That stands out at a time when it seems like big-name studios publishers are continually pushing for larger and larger games, and at a time when more than a handful of those ambitious projects don’t work out.
It’s worth noting that despite ending 2025 on a somewhat sour note — it was disqualified from The Indie Game Awards for briefly using AI-generated placeholder textures — Expedition 33 was the year’s biggest third-party Xbox Game Pass game, and is available to play on Microsoft’s buffet-style gaming service now.
If you’d rather not play Expedition 33 through Xbox Game Pass, you can alternatively pick up a full copy of the game. It’s usually $49.99, but thanks to a nice deal, you can pick up the PC version for $29.49 at Loaded.
Do you think Sandfall Interactive is making the right call in choosing to remain the size that it was when it developed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? Or do you believe the developer should grow and “scale up?” Share your thoughts in the comments.
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