Sometimes, first time’s the charm. French developer Sandfall Interactive‘s debut title, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has proven to be a hit among critics and players alike, scoring rave reviews at launch and surpassing one milestone after another. The role-playing game (RPG) now sees one million copies sold in its first three days, hitting the first 500,000 in one day.
As shared on X/Twitter, the figure “includes units shipped to retailers and does not encompass our awesome GamePass players,” which makes the feat all the more impressive, especially for a game developed by a relatively small team.
“And here we are. Three days after launch. One million copies sold,” reads the announcement post. “Thank you for believing in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.”
Adding to the team’s success is a more-than-respectable concurrent peak on Steam, clocking 121,422 players on SteamDB. This puts the entry above the likes of Atlus’ Metaphor: ReFantazio, which peaked at 85,961 concurrent players, and in the top four player counts ever for a turn-based entry on the platform, behind Baldur’s Gate 3 (875,343), Braveland (218,169), and XCOM 2 (133,022).
Notably, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is also the highest-rated title of 2025 on Metacritic as of the time of writing, scoring 92 based on 63 critic reviews and 9.7 based on 2,955 user ratings. The strong showing is certainly encouraging for an original title — even more so going toe-to-toe against The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered — and yet again reinforces the appeal of passion works.
Led by a stacked voice cast that includes Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Jennifer English (Baldur’s Gate 3), Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings), Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI), Kirsty Rider (The Sandman), Shala Nyx (The Old Guard) and more, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 follows a group of Expeditioners who have set out to destroy an entity called the Paintress, who paints a number on a monolith every year that dooms everyone of that age to death.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
