Summary

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall Interactive was formed after the game's director was bored at his job at Ubisoft.
  • He started recruiting on social media to create Expedition 33.
  • He found the lead writer on Reddit and the composer on Soundcloud.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the kind of success story we don't nearly see enough of in the gaming industry. At a time when all the major studios are continuously laying off staff, it's great to see a small French studio find worldwide success, and in a genre that is constantly underestimated.

Due to this, there are now a lot of eyes on Sandfall Interactive, with French President Emmanuel Macron among them. Now, the team has opened up about how the studio was formed, and it's as unconventional as you'd expect.

Former Ubisoft Dev Recruited On Social Media To Create Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Speaking to the BBC, Expedition 33 director Guillaume Broche says that he found his team by looking around on social media, making Reddit posts with job openings. Through this, he found Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, who was initially brought on as a voice actor but went on to become the lead writer instead.

"I saw a post on Reddit by Guillaume asking for voice actors to record something for free for a demo," Svedberg-Yen says. "I was like: 'I've never done that, it sounds kinda cool', so I sent him an audition."

She landed the role of a lead character, but as development started, she was moved to being the lead writer, so a far cry from the position she applied for.

It was a similar story with the composer, Lorien Testard, who was found on Soundcloud. He hadn't composed for a video game before, but Broche was eager to bring him on board anyway.

"Lorien, when we discussed the game for the first time, we had exactly the same references," Broche recalls. "We loved the same thing. We watched the same things. The discussion was so fluid."

This all paid off, because the team has a hit on its hands. Many consider Expedition 33 to be a serious Game of the Year contender, too, so we'll have to wait and see if this all pays off during the awards season.

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Turn-Based RPG Fantasy Systems 53 9.6/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 92/100 Critics Rec: 97% Released April 24, 2025 ESRB Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence Developer(s) Sandfall Interactive Publisher(s) Kepler Interactive Engine Unreal Engine 5
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