Following the massive commercial success of their debut title, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (a major breakout hit of 2025), developer Sandfall Interactive has the financial ability to dramatically expand its operations for its next project. However, the studio has confirmed it will intentionally avoid scaling up—a decision based on preserving its core creative focus.
Studio head Guillaume Broche explained this counter-intuitive decision, emphasizing the value of constraints in the creative process. Speaking to Edge, Broche stated that he feels no temptation to grow the company rapidly.
“I think it`s good to have limitations when you are creative.”
Broche elaborated that rapid expansion is not appealing because the leadership team prefers hands-on development to managerial duties. This means avoiding the common industry trajectory where success often forces creators into management roles.
“It`s the best way to be the best version of yourself. We could scale up now we have a lot more money, but I would say it`s not tempting for us, because even the management team and myself, we`d have to be hands-on and doing things for ourselves,” he said. “We love making games more than we love managing, so we want to keep doing that. These past five years were some of the best of my life, and I want to be happy like that again.”
Sandfall`s core philosophy, according to Broche, is to “adapt the game to the team, and not the other way around.” Their primary ambition with *Expedition 33* was fundamentally to create a game that the developers themselves were passionate about playing.
Broche further stressed the importance of creative sincerity over purely catering to the audience, arguing that if the creators care about the project, the players will ultimately benefit.
“It`s making a game that you want to play. It`s contradictory, but [try to] not care too much about the players, because if you care about your game, it means you care about the players ultimately,” he said. “The best way for me to care about people is to make something that is sincere. If it feels human, [even] if there are little flaws here and there, it`s forgivable. It just has to have a strong soul and identity.”
Expedition 33 achieved immense critical and commercial validation, selling more than 5 million copies and securing a record nine wins at The Game Awards, including the overall Game of the Year title.
Despite its accolades, the game faced scrutiny, notably when The Indie Game Awards rescinded its Game of the Year title amid concerns regarding the use of AI. The game also sparked debate over its classification as an “independent” title. Nonetheless, its remarkable success served as a beacon of hope for lower-budget games succeeding in a market often dominated by expensive franchises and sequels.
While Sandfall Interactive has yet to announce its future project, it faces the considerable challenge of following up on the tremendous critical and commercial success of *Expedition 33*, which was notably named GameSpot`s Game of the Year.