It’s wild to think that just a year ago, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was a relatively unknown indie from a debut studio that I’d flagged as the most exciting game from the Xbox Games Showcase. Today, developer Sandfall Interactive announced that the game has officially sold eight million copies worldwide, and the team still sounds overwhelmed by the response. “Thank you so so much to every single person who has played, created art, shared, streamed, discussed, and supported this game,” the studio wrote on social media.
For context, this is a debut title from a small French studio and it was available on Game Pass since day one. It sold 3.3 million copies in its first 33 days, hit 5 million by October, and has now added another 3 million in roughly six months while continuing to sweep awards season. The game has a user score in Metacritic of 9.7, won the most awards in The Game Awards history, took home three wins at the BAFTA Games Awards including Best Game, and nabbed five Game Developers Choice Awards including Game of the Year.
I’ve been pretty open about how much this game means to me. In my review, I called it the reason I play and love video games, and said it’s a testament to what passionate gamers can create when they’re not burdened by corporate greed. It masterfully takes inspiration from multiple games and molds them into a unique experience that feels fresh while evolving a genre that has existed for decades. As someone who grew up loving turn-based RPGs, it proved to me that the genre isn’t dead, it just needed a bit of creativity to modernize some very old gameplay systems. Sandfall also continues to thank its players, releasing a massive free “Thank You” update in December that added Verso’s Drafts, a photo mode, the Endless Tower with tougher boss variants, and a whole lot more at no cost.
Eight million copies is a remarkable achievement for any game, let alone a debut title. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. If you somehow haven’t played it yet, just buy it.
