Expedition 33 is a Wake Up Call for Game Publishers

After the immense hype and excitement around The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, seeing more people try Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is cathartic. Though there was concern about launching around the same time and on the same subscription service, it sold one million copies in just three days. That doesn’t even include Game Pass players, which means the overall number who are aware of and possibly enjoying Sandfall Interactive’s debut title is much higher.

Not only is it the highest-rated game of the year per Metacritic, but various industry veterans have offered extensive praise. Former Dragon Age writer David Gaider says that it is to JRPGs as Baldur’s Gate 3 was to CRPGs, adding that it’s “beautiful, polished and well-written.”

Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka called it an “amazing tribute to classic JRPGs,” and reminded everyone that his latest game, the also acclaimed Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, will still be there for those who want to try it. Several fans have called out Square Enix for its abandonment of turn-based combat in Final Fantasy (though still very prevalent in franchises like Dragon Quest) and how Clair Obscur proves there are still fans of the same.

After pouring some 40-odd hours into the game, ecstatically tackling the story and all the side content, at times exclaiming incredulously, “How much did they put into this,” the positive reception is heart-warming. However, it’s interesting to see the conversation shift to other topics like the development and potential influence on the industry.

There’s the collective bewilderment at how such a game is even possible. How could Sandfall Interactive, composed of 33 developers (and Monoco, the Happiness Manager, who is also a dog), create something so incredible? How could an independent studio’s title rival and even surpass triple-A developers in production values, story-telling, and so on? When you compare what Expedition 33 offers, it’s easy to get annoyed at major publishers and their output.

Of course, there have been further clarifications on how many people worked on the game based on the credits. About 78 other developers from other studios, including HUWIZ and QLOC have contributed in a big way. This doesn’t include performance capture, the voice cast (English and French) or even the instrumentals for the soundtrack. Essentially, the core team comprises 33 developers, but they’re not the only ones working on the game.

Right away, it’s important to note the contributions of these other developers in making such an incredible title. It also highlights how important contract workers, co-development studios, and so on can be when developing a game. Just because their names aren’t front and center during the marketing or they’re not the face of the studio doesn’t mean their contributions mean any less.

However, this still doesn’t take away from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and how it’s embarrassing the industry. Why? Because major publishers are also using outsourcing and contract workers to go with massive development teams and still deliver subpar experiences.

Remember Halo Infinite? Remember that ambitious ten-year plan that went nowhere? Due to Microsoft’s reliance on contractors, which it would continuously cycle out, development suffered immensely. Staffing issues were only one of the major problems that led to the alleged Breath of the Wild-style campaign transitioning into what players got at launch – which most hardcore fans agree to be a generally awful story.

Then there’s Starfield, and much as I don’t want to beat a dead, bug-ridden horse, it had 500 developers spread across four Bethesda studios, not including outsourcing. What should have been a pivotal moment for the company, and the debut of a new franchise to rival its previous greats, is now forgotten with barely 4K peak concurrent players on Steam. Even the most diehard fans are growing tired of Bethesda’s general lack of communication for the future.

There are numerous examples of this, but it all boils down to the fact that outsourcing doesn’t always contribute to smooth development, let alone a good game. Exceptions always abound, but there’s no denying that the so-called triple-A games industry has been lacking while smaller developers and studios have been thriving.

It’s all the more stark when considering the industry’s attempts at live service games despite numerous failures. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, MultiVersus, Star Wars: Hunters, Concord – the list goes on and doesn’t even cover the number of projects cancelled before they even saw the light of day.

When a smaller developer can employ the same methods as bigger teams with much larger budgets and create incredible experiences, something has gone seriously wrong in the system.

I always think back to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, discussing how mismanagement is a major culprit in so many games becoming so expensive, whether it’s terrible workflows, “lacking a clear creative vision,” and, my favorite, “insecure executives.” And when these games fail, the developers suffer, as seen with the closure of Monolith Productions and hundreds of layoffs in the past two years (even more recently with Electronic Arts and Respawn).

If there’s any silver lining to this, games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 exist, especially when several developers are formerly from the house that Assassin’s Creed built. A more agile team can execute its vision and deliver a story unlike any other – one that legitimately angered me with one of its plot twists, only to peel the curtain back and show how brilliant it all is.

It’s also a studio with incredible art direction – even as it started with just a handful of developers tinkering with Unreal Engine 5’s assets, systems, and visual scripting, the team has delivered exceptional environments, enemies, bosses, and cinematic moments.

There are obvious limits to the experience, whether it’s the scale and overall exploration possible in some environments (which, as I noted in my review, becomes more complex and ingenious as you progress) or the lip-syncing. I also feel like some elements, like the bonding system, could have used more nuance.

Nevertheless, it’s such a joy to play and interact with the characters and explore the overworld for brand-new locations that are fully fleshed out and house incredible secrets to an almost mystifying degree. The fact that it can offer that without wasting your time or bogging down the narrative is also exceptional. Few games provide such a lean, focused narrative. Even fewer tack on ample amounts of side content that feel special for only $49.99. No microtransactions, advanced access or other nonsense.

If anyone points to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as a lesson the industry could learn from, it’s only because they’re generally frustrated. If such incredible games are possible without the ample amount of hang-ups that the industry is known for, that too at a reasonable price point, then what is the triple-A industry even doing (besides appeasing shareholders)?

It’s one thing to focus on graphics and push the envelope of presentation, motion capture and fidelity. However, it’s another thing to devote hundreds of millions of dollars on something because there’s no clear direction or sense of what’s happening.

Silver linings, though, because even if the bigger publishers fumble, games like Clair Obscur will still emerge and prove that creativity, cohesion, and fun gameplay are what matter most.