Clair Obscur Director Describes The Studio’s Surprise At The Game’s Rapid Ascent

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has sold more than five million copies and swept through the Golden Joystick Awards with seven wins, including Ultimate Game of the Year. Its scale now defines the studio’s position in the industry, yet its leadership maintains that none of this matched the team’s projections during development or launch.

The Radio Times Gaming interview with Clair Obscur creative director Guillaume Broche offered a clear view into how Sandfall Interactive has processed a year that upended its expectations.

Broche said the group approached release believing it had made something distinctive, but not something that would command global attention. He described a quiet confidence in the project’s tone and craft, paired with a modest outlook on its reach. That gap between intent and outcome now shapes how the team interprets each new milestone. During his post-show comments, he noted that the success arrived with a sense of disorientation, as though the response outpaced their frame of reference.

"I think people don't really realize that, now it's become big, but before the launch, it was not supposed to be big," he said. "I think we all felt the same thing. It's going to be cool. It's not going to be big, it's going to be cool. And what's happening today is like, as we say, nobody really understands what's happening." — Guillaume Broche

This reaction mirrored his words on stage when Sandfall accepted the top Golden Joysticks honor, expressing disbelief at how quickly momentum had shifted in the game’s favor. The internal sentiment remained consistent afterward. Broche said that releasing the project felt like placing something personal into the open, and the reception from players carried an intensity that caught the team off guard.

"It's a weird feeling, when you put your heart out into the world and the world embraces it and gives you so much love back," he said.

"We get so much love from the players... it's so touching and incredible that it's very hard to explain." — Guillaume Broche

The response extended to the cast as well. Ben Starr, who voiced Verso and additional characters, described the game’s rapid rise as something rooted in its sincerity. According to him, the project’s small-scale origins will soon fade from public memory as its footprint expands. He pointed to a momentum that developed outside the studio’s internal forecasts, driven by players sharing experiences and creating a multiplying effect.

"It was never intended to be as big as it is," he said.

"It's turned into this kind of cultural moment, phenomenon, but that's just because the game is very honest, I think. And a lot of people have bought into that." — Ben Starr

Starr also said the sales trajectory startled the team, who watched numbers climb faster than expected and traded messages about how surreal it had become. He described the success as a sequence of moments that felt unlikely even as they kept happening, turning a compact JRPG homage into one of the most visible releases of the year.

The studio’s position shifted again when Clair Obscur became the most-nominated title in the history of The Game Awards. Its presence across categories suggests the upward trend will hold through the next major ceremony. For Sandfall, award recognition functions as both milestone and mirror: affirmation of the game’s craft and a reminder of how far it exceeded internal expectations.

The project’s ascent also recontextualizes its early identity. Much of the game’s development framed it as a focused, character-driven experience built by a small team with clear artistic goals. While that foundation remains visible, the broader reception changed its scale and placed it at the center of several industry conversations. The contrast between intention and impact now defines how the team speaks about the project in retrospect.

Ben Starr noted that the word of mouth created a current no one predicted. The line between niche and mainstream blurred quickly as more players sought out the game. That steady growth converted initial momentum into sustained visibility across regions and markets. By the end of the awards circuit, Clair Obscur shifted from surprise hit to cultural reference point, a status that few studios achieve with their debut major release.

Read also, Charlie Cox praises Maxence Cazorla as accolades for Clair Obscur continue to rise. Cox earned a nomination for Best Performance at The Game Awards despite recording only a brief session for the role of Gustave, while crediting Cazorla for shaping the character’s impact, as the game’s awards streak shows no signs of slowing.