Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 made its mark on the gaming world as one of the most remarkable titles of 2025. This massive commercial success offered developer Sandfall Interactive the opportunity to expand its team for its next project. However, the company announced it would not be pursuing this path for a reason that seems quite logical from the outside.

Sandfall Interactive: We love making games more than managing people

Speaking to Edge magazine, studio head Guillaume Broche stated that after the success of their first game, Expedition 33, they felt no desire to expand the company. Explaining the reason behind this decision, Broche emphasized that having limitations in the creative process is actually an effective way to bring out the best version of oneself.

Broche stated that while they currently have significantly more financial resources, expanding the team is not appealing to them. He cited as the main reason that everyone, including the management team, loves being behind the scenes and directly involved in production. Broche stated that they enjoy making games more than managing people, and that the past five years have been among the happiest periods of his life, adding that he wants to maintain this happiness.

The studio head describes his philosophy as “adapting the game to the team, not the team to the game.” With Expedition 33, Sandfall Interactive aimed to create a game that developers themselves would want to play. Broche believes that a game that feels sincere and human, even if it contains minor flaws, will be loved by players as long as it has a strong spirit and identity.

Expedition 33 achieved great success, selling over 5 million copies worldwide. It won a record-breaking nine awards, including Game of the Year at The Game Awards, and was also named Game of the Year by GameSpot. However, the game became the focus of some controversy when The Indie Game Awards withdrew its award due to concerns about the use of artificial intelligence. Furthermore, the game’s classification as “independent” created a separate controversy in the industry.

The game’s success instilled hope in the industry that lower-budget titles could also succeed in a market dominated by expensive sequels. Sandfall Interactive has yet to announce its next project, but expectations are certainly high following Expedition 33’s massive critical and commercial success.

So, what are your thoughts? Do you think it’s a sound strategy for a game studio to remain a boutique franchise even after such great success and financial gain, or should they have taken the risk and grown? Don’t forget to share your opinions in the comments.