Some games have a good year. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has had a great eighteen months and shows no sign of slowing down.
Sandfall Interactive’s debut RPG launched in April 2025, and by April 2026 it had crossed 8 million copies sold worldwide. That is a massive jump from the 5 million units reported around December 2025, which tells you the game’s momentum has not faded one bit.
But the sales are only half the story. What really sets Expedition 33 apart is the sheer volume of awards it has collected.
The Award Sweep Nobody Saw Coming
When the 2026 BAFTA Games Awards wrapped up on April 17, Expedition 33 walked away with three trophies: Best Game, Debut Game, and Performer in a Leading Role for Jennifer English. That last win made it the second game in history to complete a “grand slam” across all five major GOTY ceremonies: the Golden Joystick Awards, The Game Awards, the DICE Awards, the GDC Awards, and BAFTA. The only other game to pull that off was Baldur’s Gate 3 in 2023.
The Game Awards 2025 was a particularly memorable night. Expedition 33 went in with 13 nominations and walked out with nine wins, including the top prize. That was a record for the most awards won in a single ceremony.
The wins kept coming into 2026. At the Pégases, France’s national video game awards, the game took home four trophies including Best Video Game, Visual Excellence, Best Sound Universe, and Narrative Excellence. It also picked up Best Game at the BIG Festival Awards during Gamescom Latam.
All told, Expedition 33 has now won more Game of the Year awards than any other game ever released, surpassing the previous record held by Elden Ring.
The Thank You Update That Changed Everything
Sandfall did not just accept the trophies and move on. In December 2025, right after sweeping The Game Awards, the studio dropped a free content update called the Thank You Update (Patch 1.5.0).
It was not a small patch. The headline addition was Verso’s Drafts, a brand-new playable area on the World Map next to Lumière. You need Esquie’s underwater ability to reach it, and it opens up from Act III. The area is packed with new enemies, Pictos, and minigames including a seesaw challenge and hopscotch puzzles.
The update also added new boss battles in the Endless Tower, an official Photo Mode, new Luminas and weapons, fresh costumes for the whole crew, and a Lumina Sets feature that lets you save up to 50 different loadouts. Localization expanded to seven new languages including Czech, Ukrainian, Turkish, and Vietnamese. On the technical side, AMD FSR 4 support arrived with temporal upscaling and frame generation, and the game got official certification for Steam Deck and the ROG Xbox Ally.
Sandfall was upfront that this would be the last major content drop for a while. No paid expansions, no Season Pass nonsense. Just a thank you and a lot of new stuff to play.
The Anniversary Updates Were Smaller but Still Welcome
The game’s first anniversary in April 2026 came with patch v1.5.5, which added “1st Anniversary haircuts” for every playable character. You can buy them from Gestral Merchants scattered across the world. Gustave’s new style is near the Stone Wave Cliffs in Act 1, while the rest of the crew’s fresh looks are sold at the merchant near the Grosse Tête on the overworld map. The patch also fixed a menu display bug with the Danseuse outfit for Lune and Sciel, plus some collision issues.
A few months later, in late June 2026, patch v1.5.6 arrived with Arabic text support and fixes for several long-standing issues. Nothing flashy, but it showed Sandfall is still paying attention.
What Comes After Expedition 33?
This is the question everyone has been asking, and creative director Guillaume Broche has finally offered some hints. In a July 2026 interview, he was asked point blank whether the studio’s next project would be a direct sequel or something new.
He did not give a straight yes or no. What he did say was that the team wants to capture the same creative spark that made Expedition 33 special, and that they are willing to take their time. The original game took over six years to make from the first ideas to launch.
“It’s still too early to say anything specific,” Broche explained, “but we had so much fun making Expedition 33. It’s a game the whole team loves, and we want to find that same flame, that same passion for our next project”.
He also mentioned that the studio is not planning to balloon in size. With around 26 people on staff, Sandfall believes it has “more than enough” to start pre-production on whatever comes next. Broche’s reasoning is simple: when you know you cannot do everything, you focus on what matters most.
The one thing fans can count on is that a future sequel will not lock in a single canon ending. The developers have confirmed they want to leave the game’s ambiguous conclusion open to interpretation.
The Switch 2 Port Is Still Up in the Air
Rumors of a Switch 2 version have been floating around for months. In June 2026, reliable insider NatetheHate reaffirmed that the port was still planned, but Sandfall has since tempered expectations.
In late July 2026, the studio confirmed it is actively exploring a Switch 2 version but described the process as a “big technical challenge”. The problem is Unreal Engine 5. While the Switch 2 officially supports the engine, Broche noted that “a lot of features don’t work on Switch 2”. Co-founder Tom Guillermin added that the Switch 2 is simply not as powerful as the PS5 or Xbox Series X, which makes the game’s visual style difficult to replicate.
“We are interested in looking for a way to do it, but it’s too early for us to announce anything at this point,” Broche said.
For now, handheld players will have to stick with the Steam Deck or ROG Xbox Ally.
A Live-Action Movie Is Happening
The film adaptation was actually confirmed way back in January 2025, months before the game even launched. Sandfall partnered with production company Story Kitchen, but details have been scarce ever since.
Charlie Cox, who voices Gustave, has been the most vocal about the project. At the BAFTA Games Awards in April 2026, he suggested that Robert Pattinson should take on the physical role of Gustave, while he would happily return to provide the voice. Rich Keeble, who plays Monoco, has also said he would be eager to reprise his role, though he expects few cast members will carry over into the film version.
No director, release window, or additional casting has been announced. The project is still in early stages.
Cool Stuff for the Collection
Good Smile Company is releasing a Nendoroid figure of Esquie, the game’s lovable wine-loving mode of transport. The figure stands about 102mm tall, comes with poseable arms, a stand, a François doll, and a headband. It costs ¥7,800 (roughly $49) and ships in November 2026.
The Esquie Nendoroid joins a growing lineup of Expedition 33 merch, including an artbook, a large-scale Gustave replica, and collaborations with Le Béret Français and Orcival for clothing and accessories.
The Bottom Line
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has already cemented its place in gaming history. Eight million copies sold, a record-breaking pile of GOTY awards, a free content update that actually delivered, and a live-action movie on the way. Sandfall Interactive could easily rest on its laurels, but Broche and his team seem determined to take risks with whatever comes next.
“We’re going to go a bit crazy,” Broche said of the studio’s next project. Coming from the man who made one of the most beloved RPGs of the decade, that is a pretty exciting thing to hear.