Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director Guillaume Broche has revealed that the success of the turn-based RPG largely came about thanks to its high quality, which in turn was caused by the fact that the studio was focused on making games that it would like to play. In an interview with YouTube channel Pirate Software, Broche does mention that luck also played a significant role in the success Sandfall Interactive saw with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Check out the full interview below.
“I can speak about it but take it with a grain of salt because I consider myself like really really really lucky in how all the stars aligned,” said Broche when asked what piece of advice he would give to other game developers. “I think that’s the most important thing when you start the game, and I see it sometimes with new devs, and I don’t agree with that, is that you don’t have to make a game that you think people will like.”
“You have to make a game that you will like. And I think that it’s been the key thing in the beginning in terms of creative decisions. If I would not like it in the game, it doesn’t go in the game. And it makes it very personal, but it’s not like narcissistic or anything. It’s just that if it talk deeply to a player, it will, in my opinion, never fail.”
Broche went on to talk about how honesty by the developers when it comes to creative decisions behind making a game tend to be incredibly important. He also points to recent successful indie games that have been widely praised thanks to the fact that they offer unique gameplay, and were likely only made because the developers wanted to play those kinds of games.
“Like we are lucky enough that I have a mainstream taste apparently, because it’s appreciated by a lot of people. But even if it’s a niche – and I was expecting [Clair Obscur: Expedition 33] to be niche – I think it will always resonate if there is a sense of honesty and truth and joy in the game,” he said. “And I think that’s really important.”
“Like even the indie games that blew up, it’s always games that feel very authentic and true, and the team that just made the games they wanted to play, and not the games that they think people would want to play. So I think that would be my biggest advice. But once again, I’m lucky enough to have tastes that apparently align with a lot of people. I’m also very lucky that we got to have this amazing team that… I still don’t believe it to this day.”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was released on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S back in April. Check out our review for more details. Since its release, the RPG has seen quite a bit of success, selling more than 2 million copies shortly after launch. Publishing director of Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios has congratulated Sandfall Interactive, saying that sales of the game could go even higher, potentially surpassing 8 to 10 million copies sold.
