Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 surpasses 500k sold [UPDATE: 2M]

[Astrogamer]

Astrogamer has published a news story:

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 surpasses 500k sold.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (@expedition33)

A milestone for us, reached sooner than we'd ever imagined. Thank you all.

xcancel.com

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the RPG from French developer, Sandfall Interactive, has surpassed 500k sold in its second day

Read the full story here...

 

[Herb Alpert]

Happy for them. And proof again that turn based rpg still matters.

 

[fiendcode]

Great start!

 

[Evilnemesis8]

Industry News instead of milestone to send a signal, I dig it. Great start for the game.

 

[dubious donkey]

And that doesn’t seem to include GP — note they just say copies sold, not copies played or whatever they usually say when it comes to GP

70k CCU right now and climbing

This game is gonna do well

 

[Lelouch0612]

This is a very promising start for the game, which should reach additional milestones pretty quickly given the WoM.

 

[SquidEnthusiast]

Happy for them. And proof again that turn based rpg still matters.

Side eyeing these numbers compared to FFXVI as time goes on

 

[seb]

Awesome! We need 500k more for next week. Talk with your wallets

 

[Kouriozan]

Félicitation !
And totally deserved, I like success stories like those.

 

[Damage2]

Amazing, just need to reach more 500k soon

 

[enpleinjour]

Its doing very well on Playstation (nearly 3K reviews) and PC (70K CCU).
On PC very surprised to see how China leaning it is. China peak is almost 2 times US peak

Hopefully it reaches 1M soon (<2 weeks).

 

[hannibunny2411]

This game does for me what FF used to do. And it‘s turn based. Proves you don’t need to throw hundred millions at a game and chase every trend.

 

[fiendcode]

Reviews counts on all storefronts atm;

Steam: 7775
PSN: 4000
Xbox Store: 1200 (1300 Deluxe)

 

[Neo_arcadia7]

Well deserved! From what I played last night this is truly something special.

 

[Gimmick]

This game does for me what FF used to do. And it‘s turn based. Proves you don’t need to throw hundred millions at a game and chase every trend.

I was gonna say that too, there is some Final Fantasy DNA in the bones. It makes me think of games like FFX or FF 12.

Considering this is a smaller production, the Game Pass check and 500k sales should put the studio in a great place.

Like many, I expected Oblivion to hold it back, but it seems the Metacritic score did wonders. People want proper turn-based RPGs.

 

[AinsworthReigate316]

I was gonna say that too, there is some Final Fantasy DNA in the bones. It makes me think of games like FFX or FF 12.

Considering this is a smaller production, the Game Pass check and 500k sales should put the studio in a great place.

Like many, I expected Oblivion to hold it back, but it seems the Metacritic score did wonders. People want proper turn-based RPGs.

It's often said that Game Pass contracts are a huge help for indie developers because Microsoft provides contract fees even during development. On top of that, it doesn't cannibalize sales on other platforms, lol.

 

[Koni]

Very good start! Hope it continues to be a success, as by all accounts it’s a great game!

I’ll have to look at more gameplay tabs get this soon.

Reminder that this game initially stood out in the Xbox presentation that it was revealed in because it’s a AAA-looking RPG whose combat was turn-based. Will be very interesting to compare to other games.

 

[Aostia82]

Great start for a great game

 

[GodlyTrident]

I was gonna say that too, there is some Final Fantasy DNA in the bones. It makes me think of games like FFX or FF 12.

Considering this is a smaller production, the Game Pass check and 500k sales should put the studio in a great place.

Like many, I expected Oblivion to hold it back, but it seems the Metacritic score did wonders. People want proper turn-based RPGs.

Isn't it similar to the Skies of Arcadia though?

I do think that Oblivion held it back a bit. I think TESO is at 2m sold at least at this point.

 

[DSX101]

Congratulations to the team! It only sucks to me that I want the Lumiere Edition for Xbox, but they seem to only release it in Spain. I can't justify $300+ to import it on eBay (relieved I grabbed the PS5 Lumiere Edition, which was easier to find).

 

[DrWong]

"Cocorico!" like we say in France.

 

[Luke88]

-turn based games have a market;
-AA games have a market;
-narrative rich games have a market;
-non-open world games have a market;

It seems to me this game shows that in reality good games always have a market of course there's visibility issues for a lot of developers, but this post is simply to tackle the corporate agenda that says it's not economically feasible to pursue these kinds of projects. There's a healthier, less greedy and frankly more skilled industry out there, show your support for the likes of Sandfall and Supergiant.

I played the first 5 hours of the game today and I'm hooked.

 

[mariodk18]

-turn based games have a market;
-AA games have a market;
-narrative rich games have a market;
-non-open world games have a market;

It seems to me this game shows that in reality good games always have a market of course there's visibility issues for a lot of developers, but this post is simply to tackle the corporate agenda that says it's not economically feasible to pursue these kinds of projects. There's a healthier, less greedy and frankly more skilled industry out there, show your support for the likes of Sandfall and Supergiant.

I played the first 5 hours of the game today and I'm hooked.

All 4 of those points you described could be used to describe Pokemon (although recent Pokemon games have been more open), so I would say it's always been true.

 

[Scoop]

This is going to sell several million when it's all said and done, people are just now learning about it.

Expect huge sales in France and other culturally/linguistically French areas.

 

[kwaogh]

It will probably be the first Switch 2 RPG i get if it comes to it. I adore Turn based RPGs. Square, you know what to do with FF 17.

 

[Terrell]

Deserves all the success it can grab. Been tracking its sales, and the PS5 release actually sold out day one on Amazon.ca, so publisher Kepler may have substantially underestimated the impending success.

 

[enpleinjour]

One thing to note is how clear Clair Obscur's hype was before release.

It had really strong Youtube trailer views (500K or higher), a Twitter account already with ~80K followers (for reference FF16 near release was somewhere like 120-150K) and huge likes on Twitter (40-50K) for a new IP, let alone a new IP from a relatively unkown studio.

The game also had 65K followers on Steam. For reference, Doom Dark Ages, a hugely anticipated game at the same time had similar follower counts.

If this isn't a wakeup call to SE I don't know what is.
Gamers love strategy games nowadays. I think SE is still stuck in the PS360 era mentality of everything needs to be actions and guns.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

Clair obscure has dodging, parrying, jumping, and guns so I’m not sure exactly what message SE is suppose to receive here, Clair obscure isn’t receiving all this attention simply because it has a turn based combat system or there would be hundreds of indie games raking it in.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Unless E33 starts making FF money, there's not much for SE to notice. It's not like there hasn't been other successful jrpgs out there in recent times. Hell, FF7R series exists to wash away any taste 16 left.

Not to diminish E33's success but folks are just being petty, wanting to make this about Final Fantasy instead.

 

[Terrell]

Unless E33 starts making FF money, there's not much for SE to notice. It's not like there hasn't been other successful jrpgs out there in recent times. Hell, FF7R series exists to wash away any taste 16 left.

Not to diminish E33's success but folks are just being petty, wanting to make this about Final Fantasy instead.

Considering the highly-likely budgetary differences and how poorly some of the recent FF games have performed relative to those budgetary differences, "making FF money" isn't that tall or sheer of a hillside to climb, is it?

 

[KarlRemarx]

Clair obscure has dodging, parrying, jumping, and guns so I’m not sure exactly what message SE is suppose to receive here, Clair obscure isn’t receiving all this attention simply because it has a turn based combat system or there would be hundreds of indie games raking it in.

"A turn-based battle system with real time elements" is literally what ATB's unique selling point was though. Like, Clair Obscur is just executing what you would expect a modern take on ATB to be (e.g. replacing the arbitrary spin the analog sticks/enter button combos from the likes of FFX with dodge/parry windows etc - this has been the general trend across all genres, away from QTEs and towards timing windows).

It's receiving a lot of attention because:

-There is an underserved market for turn-based RPGs with a less stylised presentation (a position where BG3 has thrived), whereas the turn-based JRPG market is saturated with heavily stylised games (or low production indies that can't cut through), and the less stylised higher production JRPG market heavily leans towards real-time combat (FF16, FF7R, Forspoken depending on your definition of JRPG). I'm not making a value judgment about these games (FF16 is right up my alley as an action RPG even if I think it was wrong to position it as a mainline FF), just their relative place in the market
-Well executed marketing and simultaneous multiplatform launch. Goes without saying SE have been just awful at both of these for some time now.

 

[Koni]

"A turn-based battle system with real time elements" is literally what ATB's unique selling point was though. Like, Clair Obscur is just executing what you would expect a modern take on ATB to be (e.g. replacing the arbitrary spin the analog sticks/enter button combos from the likes of FFX with dodge/parry windows etc - this has been the general trend across all genres, away from QTEs and towards timing windows).

It's receiving a lot of attention because:

-There is an underserved market for turn-based RPGs with a less stylised presentation (a position where BG3 has thrived), whereas the turn-based JRPG market is saturated with heavily stylised games (or low production indies that can't cut through), and the less stylised higher production JRPG market heavily leans towards real-time combat (FF16, FF7R, Forspoken depending on your definition of JRPG). I'm not making a value judgment about these games (FF16 is right up my alley as an action RPG even if I think it was wrong to position it as a mainline FF), just their relative place in the market
-Well executed marketing and simultaneous multiplatform launch. Goes without saying SE have been just awful at both of these for some time now.

Basically this. I was initially excited for Clair Obscur because it was the closest thing to a new Mario and Luigi game until Nintendo announced Brothership. But I remain interested precicely because of the turn-based combat system that reminds me of those games, as well as the fact that we haven't really gotten a "AAA-looking" (for lack of a better term) turn-based game for quite some time now. It appeals to a market that many feel has been underserved since Final Fantasy moved towards action RPG mechanics. How big that market is? We'll have to see.

Also a good point on the marketing thing, this game got me to tune into an Xbox Developer Direct.

 

[RDragon]

All 4 of those points you described could be used to describe Pokemon (although recent Pokemon games have been more open), so I would say it's always been true.

Or the Octopath games.

Basically this. I was initially excited for Clair Obscur because it was the closest thing to a new Mario and Luigi game until Nintendo announced Brothership. But I remain interested precicely because of the turn-based combat system that reminds me of those games, as well as the fact that we haven't really gotten a "AAA-looking" (for lack of a better term) turn-based game for quite some time now. It appeals to a market that many feel has been underserved since Final Fantasy moved towards action RPG mechanics. How big that market is? We'll have to see.

Also a good point on the marketing thing, this game got me to tune into an Xbox Developer Direct.

Thing is, FF has been a more action RPG series since FF12 that came out in March 16, 2006. Feels like when it comes to FF lately, people are stuck in some kind of time warp where FF not being turn-base is something new when it has been a thing for literal decades.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Considering the highly-likely budgetary differences and how poorly some of the recent FF games have performed relative to those budgetary differences, "making FF money" isn't that tall or sheer of a hillside to climb, is it?

If FF keeps going the way of 16, sure. But 3M+ at $60/$70 would still put E33 out if reach. Honestly, it's a good thing a game doesn't need those highs, so I wouldn't want devs chasing that.

 

[enpleinjour]

Clair obscure has dodging, parrying, jumping, and guns so I’m not sure exactly what message SE is suppose to receive here, Clair obscure isn’t receiving all this attention simply because it has a turn based combat system or there would be hundreds of indie games raking it in.

Its still a turn based game. Loads of turn based games have action events doesn't stop them from being turn based. Thats the core strategy and thats what SE is afraid of.

I disagree. A huge part of Clair's attention is due to JRPG fans seeing a AAA like visual, narrative focused, turn based RPG. Thats very much FF.

Unless E33 starts making FF money, there's not much for SE to notice. It's not like there hasn't been other successful jrpgs out there in recent times. Hell, FF7R series exists to wash away any taste 16 left.

Not to diminish E33's success but folks are just being petty, wanting to make this about Final Fantasy instead.

I mean, there is a chance Clair sells 2-3M in its first year.
AA game, small marketing, unknown dev VS SE's most iconic AAA, 25 year+ franchise.....and yet the sales are only 1-2M apart.

Considering the highly-likely budgetary differences and how poorly some of the recent FF games have performed relative to those budgetary differences, "making FF money" isn't that tall or sheer of a hillside to climb, is it?

FF is a $70 game and sells 3-4M at that price. LTD revenue should be $300M+.
Clair would be very lucky to get even half of that.

 

[GodlyTrident]

If FF keeps going the way of 16, sure. But 3M+ at $60/$70 would still put E33 out if reach. Honestly, it's a good thing a game doesn't need those highs, so I wouldn't want devs chasing that.

Put out of reach for what? I would not be surprised if E33 cost much less than FF and profit wise it would generated more money. Not to mention additional Game Pass cheque.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Put out of reach for what?

revenue. a lot of people have it on E33 to "teach Square Enix a lesson", but these things never pan out that way. not unless they actually start posing a threat, like Yokai Watch did at its peak in Japan

 

[GodlyTrident]

revenue. a lot of people have it on E33 to "teach Square Enix a lesson", but these things never pan out that way. not unless they actually start posing a threat, like Yokai Watch did at its peak in Japan

Revenue is not the profit though.

 

[seb]

All good with the lesson to SE, hope they explore the chance of doing 'one of these' with a small team but at the moment I'm happy if it end ups selling enough to catch the eye of others AA publishers that receive similar pitches.

Very interested in knowing more about the dev story & budget for Exp 33. From their blog with have this timeline.

• Late 2020 - formed the studio, Project W started.
• April 2021 - Moved from Paris to Montpellier, they were 6 people.
• March 2022 - Expanded to 15 people | Close to finish vertical slice (+1hour of gameplay). Confirmed funds from preproduction that came from:
  • Epic Mega Grants - $50k
    The CNC (French national center for cinema) - €154,000
    The Occitanie Region . ?$
    " thanks to all of our friends, family and business angels who put their trust and money in the project from the very beginning!
• March 2023 grown from 12 to 22 since last update | Project W fully runs on UE5 | Got deal with Kepler for publishing | Moved to a 20th century old house (nice!)
• Feb 2024 - from 11 to 25 people in about a year. Now 2 offices, the Mansion in Montpellier and a office in Paris where they shoot the mocap
• Jun 2024 - Formal announcement of Expedition 33 Clairobscur
• Jan 2025 - Variety reports a movie is in the works (even before game releases)
• 23 Apr 2025 - Game Released, 500k units sold on day1
• 27 Apr 2025 - 1m units sold !!
• 06 May 2025 - 2m units sold

 

[Mekanos]

Wonder if this will get a Switch 2 release. Debating right now if I’ll wait for that or get it for PS5. Seems like it’s not supported for Steam Deck right now.

 

[dubious donkey]

Wonder if this will get a Switch 2 release. Debating right now if I’ll wait for that or get it for PS5. Seems like it’s not supported for Steam Deck right now.

They’ve done a great job making it available as accessibly as possible — I bet it’s a matter of can not want. But if I were the publisher I’d probably prioritize it

 

[theprodigy]

Wonder if this will get a Switch 2 release. Debating right now if I’ll wait for that or get it for PS5. Seems like it’s not supported for Steam Deck right now.

They're French that's like a 50% boost to the chances of a Switch 2 port right

 

[Mekanos]

They're French that's like a 50% boost to the chances of a Switch 2 port right

Good point!

I got enough games to play right now, especially RPGs, that I don't need to leap into buying this. But it does look very cool.

 

[Lelouch0612]

1m milestone might be reached early next week given how things are going on Steam, almost 100.000 CCU on Saturday with great DoD gains.

 

[Jatinder5ingh]

Decided to pick it up since it's so cheap on Green Man Gaming, really fun so far. I'm not alone either because a few people I know also picked it up today. WoM is getting around.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

Yeah, I’m only about 6 hours in but it’s probably my favorite new JRPG since at least Ni No Kuni.

 

[mibu no ookami]

Hopefully sends a message to Square Enix but it won't.

 

[nextgeneration]

1m milestone might be reached early next week given how things are going on Steam, almost 100.000 CCU on Saturday with great DoD gains.

Yeah, I think it'll hit 1 mil sold within the next several days. The game is holding up exceptionally well on Steam's global sales rankings and continues to climb daily on PS Stores' best selling charts all around the world. On the physical side of things, it's #1 on GameStop, Amazon US/UK/Germany & it's sold out on Amazon France.

From the looks of it (so far), this game looks like it'll have good legs and it has crazy momentum right now. I'm fully expecting this game to sell millions over its lifetime.

 

[toutoune134]

There it is: 1 million copies sold.

From their twitter account: "This number includes units shipped to retailers, and does not encompass our awesome GamePass players."

 

[Xevross]

Well there it is already! 1m sold in 3 days while being on Game Pass is a monumental success for a new IP from a small new studio.