Summary
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33director Guillaume Broche compared the game’s development team to an “RPG party” because its different members were “assembled together in very random ways,” and explained that a big part of the studio workflow is thinking about “stupid ideas.” Instead of an all-star team of renowned people in the industry, Sandfall Interactive started working mostly with juniors, which ended up playing out really well, asClair Obscur: Expedition 33is one of the biggest surprises of 2025.
Released on April 24,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33became a massive successin less than a month, selling more than 2 million copies and receiving a wave of positive comments from players and critics alike. The game is a turn-based role-playing game—available on PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S—set in a dark fantasy world inspired by Belle Epoque France. Its obscure and captivating story, combined with a hybrid combat system where players can dodge, parry, and time attacks during enemy turns, has made it one of the highest-rated games of 2025. Now, the game’s director has shared some interesting details about theClair Obscur: Expedition 33journey.
In an interview with Pirate Software, game director Guillaume Broche shared details on the development workflow and the particular way in which the team came together to create themassively popularClair Obscur: Expedition 33. According to Broche, the process was pretty straightforward: “I just send a mail to someone, and this person instantly says, okay,” explained the director, while comparing the studio to an RPG party. He said that the team came to be in random ways and revealed that most of them were juniors whose first big project wasClair Obscur: Expedition 33, such as the lead writer, who was found via a Reddit audition for voice actors.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Was Built on ‘Stupid Ideas’
But how the team was assembled is not the only interesting aspect of Sandfall. Broche explained that the ideas for theClair Obscur: Expedition 33mechanicsand content came from thinking “about stupid ideas.” During lunch, the team gathers and comes up with tons of “silly” ideas that they just try out to see how they work. That’s “our best way of making cool content,” stated Broche, and it has turned out well for Sandfall so far.
This flexible approach, Broche emphasized, allows anybody with a fun idea to try it out and see what happens once it’s added to the game. “We are super open to everybody’s ideas,” said Broche, adding that Sandfall allows every team member to put their personal touch on the game. For now,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33has no plans for DLC or new content, though Sandfall has said players should expect further improvements to the base game.
