Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been a sales success for the newly-founded development studio. As well as selling over five million copies since its release in April, the turn-based RPG has also been the biggest Game Pass release of the year.
Launching day and date on Xbox’s video game subscription service, Sandfall’s debut project has been revealed as the biggest third-party game launch of 2025. Initially revealed in partnership with Xbox, the gorgeous game had the highest number of “unique users in the first 30 days of its availability” compared to any other third-party launch on the platform.
Xbox announced the game back in 2024 and continued platforming the game until release. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 even received an 11-minute showcase during the 2025 Developer Direct, a video which still only has 24,000 views. While Clair Obscur is a huge deal now, it only exploded after launch.
Nevertheless, ID@Xbox Director Guy Richards explains that Xbox were sold on the turn-based RPG from the beginning. While early trailers didn’t set the industry alight, the ID@Xbox team knew that there was something special at Sandfall.
“From the start, Sandfall’s ambition was clear and we really felt they wanted to create something truly special, something beyond expectations for the team,” Richards explained. “Once we played early builds, we experienced their gripping story, stunning visuals and the mix of JRPG mechanics with French cultural themes that felt fresh and distinctive. It’s the kind of experience we knew Xbox players would love to discover.”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 creative director Guillaume Broche explained that “Xbox helped us get the word out there and reach a lot of players”. While the game was always pitched as a budget release with a lower price than most titles, the director explained that the subscription service allowed even more players to try the game.
“The turn-based RPG genre has a lot of fans but sometimes it might put people who prefer more real-time action games off, but Game Pass lowered that barrier of entry,” Broche said. “They could just try it and see how it feels. So a lot of curious players could start the game, explore Lumière and the early game, and realize there’s a lot to enjoy here, even if they weren’t expecting it at first.”
Now, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of the highest-rated games ever released, and is currently up for the most nominations at The Game Awards in history. However, it goes to show that sometimes even a great game needs someone to believe in it for it to become as big as it should be.
For more coverage of Sandfall’s hit RPG, read about the game’s actors’ call for a motion capture award category at Geoff Keighley’s annual Game Awards celebration.
