Sandfall Interactive

Indiana Jones Would Approve: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Art Book Is So Convincing That Iraqi Authorities Mistook It for an Ancient Relic

On February 5, French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati appointed the team at Sandfall Interactive, the studio behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, as Knights of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Actress Devora Wilde, who played Lae’zel in Baldur’s Gate 3 and voiced Clea in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, has supported Charlie Cox’s stance that motion capture actors deserve far more recognition. The topic has resurfaced amid renewed discussions around nominations and acting credits in video games.

The leadership of Sandfall Interactive, the studio behind the RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, has said it does not intend to significantly grow the team despite the project’s commercial and critical success.

Adrian Chmielarz, creative director of The Astronauts and a 34-year industry veteran, admitted that the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 quite literally “broke” his understanding of how large-scale RPGs are made today. According to him, learning that a significant portion of Sandfall Interactive’s team consisted of junior developers came as a genuine shock.

The French RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from indie studio Sandfall Interactive has set an all-time industry record, receiving 436 “Game of the Year” awards from various publications and ceremonies worldwide for 2025. The project surpassed the previous record holder Elden Ring, which earned 435 awards in 2022.

The developers of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have revealed that Maelle’s infamous Stendhal attack became excessively powerful due to a failed fix applied at the final stage of development. According to the team, the ability was originally one of the weakest in the game and barely worked as intended.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has spent the last few months smashing records and firmly securing its place in gaming history. The French RPG from Sandfall Interactive picked up a record-breaking nine awards at The Game Awards and now sits second all-time for Game of the Year wins, behind only Elden Ring.

Katsura Hashino, head of Studio Zero and one of the key creators behind the Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio series, has shared his impressions of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The developer met with the Sandfall Interactive team during their visit to Japan and personally played the game.

The creators of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from Sandfall Entertainment have addressed debates surrounding the game’s status as an indie project. Despite substantial backing from publisher Kepler Interactive, the team insists that Expedition 33 remains an independent production at its core.

Game developers are used to the fact that gamers often try to avoid a difficult fight with strong bosses by coming up with different tactics. However, there are those who do not stop in front of the most hardcore opponents. One of these players impressed the creative director of Sandfall Interactive Guillaume Broche.

Sandfall Interactive hired more young developers than is typical for a large-scale project. The studio’s creative director explained why that choice proved to be the right one.

Sandfall Interactive does not plan to adjust its creative approach to meet fan expectations when working on its next project. Chief operating officer François Meurisse admitted that the team feels some pressure after the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but described it as “not that important.” The studio intends to keep working the same way it always has — by exploring ideas that genuinely inspire the team.

The action RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from Sandfall Interactive continues to rack up achievements one after another. Following its triumph at award ceremonies and a record number of wins at The Game Awards, the game has earned another equally telling distinction — it has become the most completed game of 2025.

Sandfall Interactive has commented on the controversy surrounding the use of generative AI in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and stated that the studio will abandon this practice in its future projects.

A scandal has erupted around Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 over the use of generative AI. The trigger was the decision by the Indie Game Awards organizers to revoke the game’s “Game of the Year” award after Sandfall Interactive confirmed that AI tools were used during development.

Actor Neil Newbon, best known for his roles as Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3 and Karl Heisenberg in Resident Evil: Village, has weighed in on the debate surrounding a potential separate motion capture award at The Game Awards. The discussion gained momentum after the ceremony, when some viewers and performers pointed out the lack of recognition for actors whose work relied primarily on mocap.

The combat system of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was designed from the ground up to theoretically allow a full playthrough without taking any damage. This was revealed by game director Guillaume Broche in an interview with the Japanese outlet Denfaminicogamer.

The lead of Phantom Blade Zero, Soulframe Liang, has revealed that he is drawing inspiration from the experience of the creators of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 while refining the game — and the key takeaway from those conversations turned out to be surprisingly simple: cut what’s unnecessary and focus on quality.

French president Emmanuel Macron publicly congratulated Sandfall Interactive on the resounding success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 at The Game Awards 2025. The debut project from the French team became the unquestioned record-setter of the ceremony hosted annually by Geoff Keighley.