Sandfall Interactive"s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launched in April 2025 and quickly became one of the biggest surprise hits of the year. Aside from selling millions of copies, the developer and the game are already raking in awards for this take on a turn-based RPG experience. The game was also an Xbox Game Pass day-one launch, letting subscribers jump in on the same day that it was released to those paying full price for it. According to the mind behind the project, this was a big boon for the project.
Speaking to Xbox Wire, Sandfall Interactive creative director Guillaume Broche says that its partnership with Xbox had paved the way for players to get eyes on the game, even if they aren"t fans of the turn-based RPG genre.
"The turn-based RPG genre has a lot of fans but sometimes it might put people who prefer more real-time action games off, but Game Pass lowered that barrier of entry," said Broche. "They could just try it and see how it feels. So a lot of curious players could start the game, explore Lumière and the early game, and realize there’s a lot to enjoy here, even if they weren’t expecting it at first."
Broche also mentioned that Microsoft"s support via its ID@Xbox program to show off the game across its showcases helped it "get the word out there and reach a lot of players."
The game is breaking records on Xbox Game Pass as well. Microsoft today revealed that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the biggest new third-party game launch on Xbox Game Pass of 2025. The number has been calculated based on how many unique players it had within 30 days of launch. This means the debut title by Sandfall Interactive even beat the massively hyped launch of Hollow Knight: Silksong, which was also a day-one drop into Game Pass.
"This year has been so far beyond what any of us could have imagined, and it’s down to how passionate and supportive our fans have been to make that a reality," adds Broche. "It’s really nerve-wracking to be a new studio releasing our first game, but the support of everyone has really made everything feel like a dream."
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will be making plenty of appearances at the upcoming The Game Awards 2025 showcase. It has already broken the record for having the most nominations across its award categories.