Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Sells 2 Million Copies in 12 Days, Macron Joins the Hype

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has gone from a promising RPG curiosity to full-on generational hit status, and it did it faster than anyone expected. We’re now 12 days post-launch, and developer Sandfall Interactive has confirmed: 2 million copies sold. That’s two million people who dove into this surreal French fantasy RPG, and counting.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has already made history as the highest user-scored game on Metacritic by a significant margin (9.7/10 with nothing else above a 9.3).

That score alone was enough to get everyone’s attention. For comparison, most major Game of the Year contenders never break into the 9s on user scores. This one came out of nowhere, and now it’s sitting pretty above every Final Fantasy, every Baldur’s Gate, every anything. And no, this isn’t some massive billion-dollar franchise; it’s a brand new IP from a first-time studio. It shouldn’t be possible, but it is.

The game’s reception has been so massive that even French President Emmanuel Macron jumped on the bandwagon. During a recent cultural event in Paris, Macron specifically praised Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as a shining example of French artistic excellence in the gaming world. He’s no stranger to the scene either—this is the same president who personally congratulated Team Vitality on their historic CS2 Grand Slam victory this year. Macron’s got gamer cred, and he’s making it clear that this game is a national win.

“We must celebrate our creative industries,” Macron said. “Clair Obscur proves that French video game artistry is at the forefront of global innovation.”

It’s not every day that a political leader hypes up an RPG launch. But Macron's backing of this game is kind of perfect. Clair Obscur is unapologetically French, artistically ambitious, narratively bold, and visually rich in a way that feels like a blend of Disco Elysium and Dark Souls if both were painted by a 19th-century surrealist.

And those sales numbers? Just absurd. For perspective, Dragon Age: The Veilguard—a BioWare/EA flagship RPG, had 1.5 million players “engaged” in its first fiscal quarter, and that includes Game Pass and EA Play subscriptions. Meanwhile, Clair Obscur is raw, paid sales. No freebies, no bundles.

“That was, of course, a much worse game than Expedition 33, which is already being called one of the best RPGs possibly ever.”

This might be the Hades or Witcher 3 moment for Sandfall Interactive. A no-name team drops something so polished, so personal, and so playable that it becomes the standard overnight. People who don’t even like turn-based combat are eating this up. It’s that smooth. It fixes genre fatigue by being so damn original.

“I don’t care if you don’t like RPGs or turn-based games (I don’t), it fixes that, and is a must-play.”

It helps that the competition this year isn’t exactly light, either. We’ve already had Split/Fiction and Blue Prince, which were both solid contenders. But Expedition 33 is just built differently. The buzz is louder. The word-of-mouth is stronger. And yes, with GTA 6 pushed to 2026, the Game of the Year race is wide open.

“I genuinely believe we’re looking at a generational game here.”

Even the game’s 92 critic score on Metacritic, while shared with Blue Prince, feels understated compared to what fans are saying. The gap between player love and press praise feels weirdly inverted here—usually it’s the other way around.

So what’s next? Long-term sales will likely keep climbing as more people hear about this gem. Sandfall already teased future expansions and DLCs that could flesh out this wild universe even more. Check Clair Obscur’s first update drops, which look very promising. And if this is just the foundation, we could be looking at the birth of a new mega-franchise.

Bottom line? Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is already legendary. It nailed the launch, won over millions, got Macron’s seal of approval, and might just walk away with every GOTY trophy by year’s end. If you haven’t tried it yet, do. This one’s not just hype. It’s historic.