It’s no small feat for a game surrounded by high anticipation and hype to not only meet expectations but exceed them. Yet that’s precisely what Sandfall Interactive has managed to achieve with their latest RPG title, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Visually stunning, creatively bold, and mechanically challenging, the game’s popularity continues to soar since its release. But behind this critically acclaimed success lies an unexpected origin story: it was born out of boredom.
This surprising revelation comes straight from the game’s creator, Guillaume Broche, who shared more in a recent interview with the BBC. Broche said that the initial idea for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 came to him during the global COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
Like many others working remotely at the time, he found himself increasingly disillusioned with his day job at Ubisoft and longed to pursue something different and more creatively fulfilling. What emerged from that restlessness was a vision for a new RPG, one inspired heavily by the classics of his childhood, particularly Final Fantasy. Unlike many who let fleeting ideas pass, Broche took the leap and committed to making it a reality.
The recruitment process for the game was as unconventional as its origin. Broche began building his team by scouting talent from various online communities, including Reddit. These efforts led to forming a core team of around 30 developers, backed by funding from what would become Sandfall Interactive.
The technical backbone of the project, according to Broche, was the increasingly advanced set of game development tools available today. These tools allowed a small team to produce a game with the scope and polish typically reserved for larger studios. Leveraging his industry connections through Kepler Interactive, Broche also managed to bring high-profile actors such as Charlie Cox and Andy Serkis on board, an achievement he still finds surreal.
Today, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. It is also part of the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, offering players an accessible way to experience one of the year’s most talked-about RPGs.
