In the era of AAA games and huge companies, one stood out and made a masterpiece. Now, in a recent interview, the COO of Sandfall Interactive talks about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a bit about their next game, the current state of AA games in a AAA-dominated scene, and how they plan to move forward.
For a company with a core team of 33 members (32 people and one dog, to be more specific), most of them juniors in their field of work, Sandfall Interactive had a huge impact on the gaming scene. You’d think that only huge teams could make quality games, but nothing could be further from the truth. Sandfall managed to make a game that took over the gaming scene by storm and became a top contender for Game of the Year 2025. As a cherry on top, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 just celebrated selling 3.3 million copies 33 days after the release. Now, is there talk about the next game? Will Sandfall expand the team, or will they keep it smaller? The COO sheds some light on all that.
Clair Obscur Expedition 33 COO Talks About the Next Game, the Current State of AA Games, and How Sandfall Plans to Move Forward
In a recent interview with Games Industry, the COO and Producer of Sandfall Interactive, François Meurisse, talked a bit about what made Clair Obscur succeed and what the plan is for the next game. Furthermore, he delves into the topic of AA games in a world oversaturated with AAA titles and how we may be looking at an AA renaissance. Lastly, he talks about the plans for the future of Sandfall.
What Helped Clair Obscur Expedition 33 to Succeed and Teasers About the Next Project
Mr. Meurisse thinks that chasing trends is not the right way to go when trying to make an original game, and that is what he has in common with Guillaume Broche. Mr. Broche wanted to make a game more like the old flashy JRPGs, which have been all but forgotten by now, and that is what attracted Meurisse to the project.
“A bit after, when we tried to rationalise that yearning he has for this kind of game, we realised that it wasn’t addressed as much in the market, and maybe there was a place for it,” says Meurisse. Creating yet another, for example, team-based shooter in a scene where we have those kinds of games at every corner is an uphill battle. Games like Clair Obscur are few and far between, which means there is ample demand for them.
On the topic of the next project, François Meurisse confirmed that it is happening, but they still have to decide on what direction the next game will take. “I can’t wait to dig more into the ideas we already have for the next game. Plus, the team has grown up, has acquired new skills throughout production. Many of them were junior when we started. We learned to work together. So I can’t wait to get to the next project, because we’ll start from a more efficient position than when we started the company five years ago. And that [comes] with higher expectations as well, so it will be challenging. But I can say that we have – and Guillaume in particular has – great ideas for the next game,” said Meurisse.
The Resurgence of AA Games
Moving on, Mr. Meurisse talked about the current state of the video game industry. It is no surprise that the scene is dominated by either huge AAA titles or Indie games. The presence of AA games, a midpoint between those two, has shrunk significantly in the last couple of years, meaning that being an AA studio is a risky business nowadays. But with the right mindset, it can work out. “…from our perspective, we didn’t care too much about market considerations. In a sense, A Plague Tale or Mortal Shell or Hellblade, games like those were already proof for us that small teams of less than 50 people could have great games and great execution.” said Meurisse.
As for the AAA games, the number of releases in general has dropped significantly, meaning that there is room for AA games to shine. Especially with the recent track record of AAA games…
The Future of Sandfall
Lastly, they came to the topic of the future of Sandfall, now that their popularity has skyrocketed. Usually, after successes like the one Sandfall has, many teams would try to expand: increase the size of their teams and work on multiple games. And that is exactly what Sandfall wants to avoid. “For now, our vision would be to stick to a close team working in the same city with less than 50 people on board, focusing on one project after another, and keeping this agility, and this creative strength, and smartness of a small group of passionate people wanting to do something big. We want to keep the organisation that made us successful,” said Meurisse.
While it is tempting to go big, it is surely a smarter decision to keep the team as it is, more or less. It is less risky, more manageable, and they have already proved more than capable of doing a stellar job. Don’t fix what isn’t broken. We can confidently say that the whole gaming scene is already excited for Sandfall’s next project, especially after hearing that they want to avoid the usual pitfalls many studios fall into and keep the winning team, without watering it down. And a big thanks to the Games Industry for sharing this interview with the community,
