Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall underestimated just how much players would engage with the game's various sidequests and optional content, and as a result of this extra grinding would find the final boss fight a tad underwhelming.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall will focus on what those at the studio personally think is "cool" for its next game, rather than feel any pressure to focus on what anyone else thinks it should do.
43.8 million player votes later, the winners of the 2025 Steam Awards have been announced, with Hollow Knight: Silksong securing top prize, Game of the Year.
It's been another strange, difficult, and yet somehow also brilliant year for video games in 2025. Triple-A releases have been sparse again, compared to the boom times of old, with a great big GTA 6-shaped hole left in the final few months of the year. And yet once again, every gap left by the established order has been filled twice over with something brilliantly new.
2025 has gone by in a flash, hasn't it? Well, apart from the days I've spent tabulating all your Game of the Year votes and presenting the results here - that has felt like an eternity and I think has given me permanent neck pain. But, let's not worry about that. I'm sure you'll agree it was worth the sacrifice.
Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week it's not about what we've been playing, but what we hope to be playing on Christmas Day (you're reading this now, but we wrote this back in June or something as we plan ahead).
We've all been there. You're at the end of a game, you've done all of the side quests, you're strong as hell, finally read to take on the final boss, confident you can finish this quest you started 30-100 hours ago. Only to find that the fight is a piece of piss because, whoops! You overlevelled yourself by too much. This was seemingly the case for a number of people in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and now the game's lead designer Michel Nohra has expressed some regret for those who had that experience.
When a game like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 rocks up, rakes in a bunch of success and critical acclaim, alongside the top game of the year prize at Geoffie's Lil Night of Ads, there will be certain expectations of what's next. It's always what's next! Because there has to be more. But whatever more ends up being for developer Sandfall Interactive, the team is trying to make sure they don't just bow down to what people want from them.
With over five million units sold and multiple awards already, all eyes are on Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to conquer The Game Awards next week. For that reason – and perhaps because the year is winding down – Microsoft has declared it the “biggest new third-party game launch on Xbox Game Pass of 2025.”
That milestone factors “the number of unique users in the first 30 days of its availability.” While it didn’t share any figures, the developer confirmed 3.3 million sales in the first 33 days of release. Keep in mind that this was with The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered launching smackdab at the same time (and becoming a huge success in its own right).
On Xbox Wire, creative director Guillaume Broche said, “This year has been so far beyond what any of us could have imagined, and it’s down to how passionate and supportive our fans have been to make that a reality. It’s really nerve-wracking to be a new studio releasing our first game, but the support of everyone has really made everything feel like a dream.”
ID@Xbox director Guy Richards added, “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. 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.”
Broche also credited Xbox for their support, “From being there to announce our game back in Summer 2024, to coming to the studio for the Developer_Direct video in January, Xbox helped us get the word out there and reach a lot of players.” Game Pass also allows a “lot of people try our game when maybe they might not have before. 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.
“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.”
Say what you will about Xbox and its many flaws, but Broche isn’t wrong. The first trailer stole the show at the Xbox Games Showcase last year and has only garnered more hype ever since. Sandfall Interactive is currently working on a major free update that adds a new environment, enemies and challenging late-game bosses. There will also be more unlockable outfits for each character and some “surprises” to look forward to.
Fresh from sweeping the Golden Joysticks and poised to do the same at The Game Awards, Sandfall Interactive’s phenomenal debut RPG is one of the most buzzed-about releases of the year, so it should surprise no one when we announce that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the biggest new third-party game launch on Xbox Game Pass of 2025. That’s based on the number of unique users in the first 30 days of its availability, which means a huge number of Xbox players joined Maelle, Gustave, Esquie, and the gang on their journey right from the beginning.
Sandfall Interactive creative director Guillaume Broche told us how grateful he is for all that love: “This year has been so far beyond what any of us could have imagined, and it’s down to how passionate and supportive our fans have been to make that a reality. It’s really nerve-wracking to be a new studio releasing our first game, but the support of everyone has really made everything feel like a dream.”
ID@Xbox Director Guy Richards explained why Expedition 33 stood out early on as a game the team wanted to put weight behind: “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. 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.”
For Broche, that support from Xbox was instrumental in helping the game make as big a splash as it has. “From being there to announce our game back in Summer 2024, to coming to the studio for the Developer_Direct video in January, Xbox helped us get the word out there and reach a lot of players.”
He also noted how Game Pass allowed them to reach a much wider audience, “letting a lot of people try our game when maybe they might not have before. 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. 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.”
Set in a whimsical fantasia that belies dark secrets, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 follows the eponymous Expedition on a doomed mission to save their city from the mysterious Paintress, a godlike being that has obliterated the city’s eldest cohort every single year for decades following a cataclysm that rent the world asunder. It has captured hearts and minds all over the world for both its memorable characters and story as well as for its thrilling, savvy evolution of classic turn-based RPG battles.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a prime example of the innovative and diverse range of experiences that Xbox Game Pass was created to support, helping developers of all sizes reach a huge global audience while bringing unparalleled value to our players. Xbox is proud to have supported Sandfall in sharing this excellent game with the world, and we look forward to bringing many more exciting titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on day one.
If you haven’t yet joined the Expedition, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and Xbox Cloud. It’s an Xbox Play Anywhere title and available with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
For those who come after!
The post Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Is the Biggest New Third-Party Game Launch on Xbox Game Pass of 2025 appeared first on Xbox Wire.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the biggest third-party launch on Xbox Game Pass this year, with game director Guillaume Broche stating the subscription service allowed the studio to reach a wider audience.
Hollow Knight: Silksong developer Team Cherry has revealed it won't be making the trip to The Game Awards next month, as the team believes Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will sweep the Game of the Year award.
Though Steam may not be having a Black Friday sale of its own, that shouldn't stop you from filling up your library (see: backlog) with a bunch of Steam keys at great prices. The Fanatical Black Friday sale is finally here, giving you plenty of deals from underrated gems to this year's biggest hits, and while there's plenty to choose from, I've cherry-picked some of my personal favorites to make the choice easier for you. Considering that Fanatical's prices are usually cheaper than Valve's storefront, I imagine most of the existing discounts will be cheaper than the next Steam sale. Best of all, it's slightly earlier, starting a week before the shopping event of the year, so if you're looking to get some adventures to end the year off, this is the time.
Read the full story on PCGamesN: From Borderlands 4 to Expedition 33, Fanatical's Black Friday prices are cheaper than Steam
Charlie Cox won himself a Game Awards nomination for his work voicing Gustave in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. However, while the actor is understandably delighted to see his contribution recognised, he says as much of the credit needs to go to Gustave's motion performance actor, Maxence Cazorla.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, from developer Sandfall Interactive, has become the most nominated game in The Game Awards history, with a total 12 nominations to its name this year.
The PlayStation Store continues to bring the greatest deals to some of the very best PS4 and PS5 games the digital storefront has to offer. That includes this 2025 PS5 RPG that is locked as a Game of the Year nominee.
Developed by Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is currently on sale on the PS Store at a 20% discount. Specifically, it is the Deluxe Edition of the critically acclaimed game. This brings its usual price of $59.99 down to $47.99. PS5 players who want to take advantage of this deal will want to act fast. The offer will end on November 22 at 2:59 a.m. ET.
Here is a trailer of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, as well as a brief description giving players an idea of what the game is all about:
“Once a year, the Paintress wakes and paints upon her monolith. Paints her cursed number. And everyone past that age turns to smoke and fades away. Year by year, that number ticks down and more of us are erased. Tomorrow she’ll wake and paint “33.” And tomorrow we depart on our final mission – Destroy the Paintress, so she can never paint death again.”
Again, it should be noted that this deal is just for the Deluxe Edition of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The standard version is still at its regular list price of $49.99. Here is everything included in the Deluxe Edition of the lauded RPG:
When Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 earlier this year, it was universally acclaimed by critics. According to the review aggregate site Metacritic, it received an average score of 92 across 84 critic reviews. It is nominated for the 2025 Golden Joystick Awards’ Ultimate Game of the Year.
The post 2025 PS5 GOTY Contender Already on Sale on PS Store appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.
