One of our most-anticipated JRPGs for 2025 was being made "just for fun in the beginning" and "everybody was working for free"

Nov. 23, 2024

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has scrappy origins

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JRPG love letter Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is coming in hot next year with a full release that looks on par with plenty of other AAA games, though its origins are far more indie.

It wouldn’t be until later that the scope grew to a commercial release, with Broche taking the leap to leaveUbisoftand spin up Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 studio Sandfall Interactive. Even then, though, development remained scrappy for a while.

“I started off in Belgium during the pandemic and then moved to Montpelier, where I went with Guillaume and Francois [Meurisse, COO and producer] to an Airbnb for about a month,” artist Nicholas Maxis-Francombe says. “About a week before we had to leave, we were like, ‘Oh, we have to find apartments.'”

Thankfully, once the team settled, they raised the funds to create a vertical slice that secured them a publisher in Kepler Interactive, “who generously gave us enough money to finish the game.”

Since its reveal, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has continued to grab eyes – mine especially – for a few reasons. At first, it was theimpressive level of graphics slapped atop a turn-based RPGbecause, hey, as Persona frequently shows, being modern doesn’t have to mean leaving that combat style behind. It also hasoodles of vocal talent, from Daredevil himself, Charlie Cox, to mocap magician Andy Serkis.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is due to release next spring.

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