With the game’s unique and innovative melding of strategic combat encounters, mysterious and magical story elements, and emotional depth of characters, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has blasted to the top to become one of the highest user-scored games ever on Metacritic, currently sitting at a 9.7 aggregate user score.
In less than two weeks the game has already sold over two million copies, making it not only a critical success, but also a lucrative commercial success for the small, previously unknown and unproven team at Sandfall.
The overwhelmingly positive reception, praise, and awards from players and industry officials alike seem to have no clear end in sight. First becoming the highest-rated game of 2025, then news broke of the movie adaptation film deal that was struck before the game’s release which sparked further interest in the title, and now even Emmanuel Macron, the President of France has taken to Instagram and issued a congratulatory message to the developers, commenting on the success of Sandfall’s stand-out masterpiece and referring to the developers as a “shining example of French audacity and creativity.”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has cemented its place in gaming history, and Sandfall has made a name for themselves as a powerful force in the industry. With a bar set so high with their first major release, and having surpassed all expectations, it will be exciting to see what they can cook up next.
If you want to see our full review of the game, check it out here!
