After dominating The Golden Joystick Awards and numerous outlets' top ten lists, the torrent of truly good news for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't slowing down one bit as we head towards what will surely be a strong showing at The Game Awards. What about Maelle’s latest victory lap? Xbox Game Pass.
This is the largest third-party Game Pass launch of the year, ahead of many worthy competitors. In an industry where RPGs will always have their place, but rarely move enough copies to surpass live service shooters and sportsball games, the fact that Clair Obscur is able to take the crown in a highly competitive commercial arena is a testament to Clair Obscur's groundbreaking status.
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“So far beyond what any of us could have imagined.”
Microsoft made this known today via Xbox Wire with the following clarification: The tally is “…based on the number of unique users in the first 30 days of availability, which means a huge number of Xbox players have joined Maelle, Gustave, Esquie and the gang from the beginning.” Then the rumor spread quickly.
Even more awesome news is that Xbox Wire invited Guillaume Broche, Creative Director at Sandfall Interactive, for a quick chat to help celebrate this huge announcement. Unsurprisingly, Broche said, “This year has been so much more than any of us could have imagined, and it’s down to how passionate and supportive our fans have been to make this a reality.” “It’s really nerve-wracking to release the first game from a new studio,” he admits. To be fair, any of us could have guessed. But it's especially worth emphasizing that “everyone's support made everything feel like a dream.”
There's been quite a bit of discussion over the past year about the potential benefits and possible drawbacks of adding games to Xbox's monthly subscription service. Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden declared in August that the company was “not creating value” for developers. On the other hand, Obsidian's incredibly prolific Josh Sawyer noted that without Game Pass, the excellent narrative-driven Pentiment would never have gotten the green light it deserves.
Where does Guillaume Brochut stand? Well, to be fair, he prepared this statement as part of his collaboration with Xbox, but just as importantly, he seems genuinely grateful that Game Pass helped him achieve Sandfall.
“The turn-based RPG genre has a lot of fans, but it can sometimes turn off those who prefer real-time action games, but Game Pass lowered that barrier to entry. You could just try it out and see how it felt. So many curious players started playing, started exploring Lumière and the early games, and realized that there was a lot to enjoy here, even if they didn't expect it at first.”
In any case, it's another big moment for gaming that looks set to have quite a few achievements as the industry looks back on its biggest success stories as 2025 comes to a close. Of course, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will never sell like Battlefield or Call of Duty. And you'll never see as many players as Fortnite, Roblox, and all that jazz. But in reality, you only need to sell a relative portion. what you already have It's safe to say that, uh, it's done a lot more than that, making it a profitable venture for the French studio. Enjoy more turn-based RPGs!
Claire Obsker: Expedition 33
- released
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April 24, 2025
- ESRB
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Ages 17 and older / Blood and gore, strong language, suggestive themes, violence
- developer
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Sandpole Interactive
- publisher
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Kepler Interactive
