How a Passion Project Overpowered the Video Game Giants
Creativity and authenticity still matter.
I recently played through a marvelous, wonderfully crafted RPG called Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and I’m hopeful it will make a strong Game of the Year contender. What stood out wasn’t just its mature story, stunning orchestral soundtrack, and gorgeous visuals. It also respected my time, taking only around 40 hours to complete, compared to the 100+ hours typical of modern RPGs. That’s a rare gift for busy players like me.
But more than a game recommendation, I want explore how Expedition 33 defied industry trends and took on the financial behemoths in the present-day video game market and won.
A $220 B Industry Built on Bloated Budgets
To start, the video game industry is now a $220 billion juggernaut, larger than film, TV, and music combined. Blockbuster franchises like GTA VI and Call of Duty often have budgets north of $250 million and teams of 300 to 600 developers working several years.
Yet, higher budgets don’t guarantee success. Recent flops like Redfall or Suicide Squad failed due to buggy launches and directionless development. The lesson is clear: more money ≠ better game. We've also seen this trend spill into movies, with some of Disney's recent high-profile disappointments such as Snow White and several Marvel projects coming to mind.
The $80 Barrier: Player Fatigue Sets In
Rising budgets forced publishers to hike prices. The $60 baseline is now $70, even $80, and additional microtransactions and deluxe editions often push total spending beyond $100.
That’s where Expedition 33 delivers something different: a full-featured, emotionally-rich RPG at $49.99, offering players value without nickel-and-diming them.
Founder’s Breakaway: From Ubisoft to Indie Vision
The heart of Expedition 33’s creation lies in its founder, Guillaume Broche. A seasoned veteran, Broche had worked at Ubisoft on titles like Ghost Recon and The Division 2. Yet during the pandemic in 2020, he felt bored and trapped in AAA bureaucracy. He believed it would take “25 years” to push through a new JRPG idea in that system.
So he quit Ubisoft and co-founded Sandfall Interactive in Montpellier, France, alongside CTO Tom Guillermin and producer François Meurisse. He began building the game of his dreams: a high-fidelity turn-based RPG inspired by Final Fantasy, Persona, and Lost Odyssey.
Broche funded a demo with help from Reddit and SoundCloud communities, caught the interest of Kepler Interactive, then officially formed Sandfall and brought in around 30 developers, many from Ubisoft.
During development, the game pivoted from its steampunk demos to a Belle Époque canvas-world, evolving from an early Project W concept to the polished narrative-driven RPG we have today.
Critical & Commercial Triumph
Released on April 24, 2025, Expedition 33 scored 93 on Metacritic (84 critic reviews) and 9.7 user score from 15k+ reviewers. It now holds the highest user rating ever on the platform.
On the sales front, it sold 500k in 24 hours, 1m in three days, 2m in twelve days, and over 3.3m copies within 33 days. And that doesn't even include Game Pass downloads. It took me a month to grab a physical copy as they were so hard to find and even now we're seeing physical copies on the secondary market over retail price.
Physical media is a whole other topic I'd love to dive in at some point. If you are interested in that leave a comment and help nudge it up my backlog.
A New Indie Template for Success
What this all signals is a hopeful shift: small, passionate teams can craft polished, AAA-level games without relying on AAA budgets. Expedition 33 is proof that sincerity, artistry, and creative freedom can resonate worldwide and beat the giants.
It didn’t need bloated budgets, microtransactions, or mainstream trends. It needed vision, something born from boredom at Ubisoft and brought to life through determination and small-team agility.
Final Takeaway
If you build something with passion, soul, and character, something you truly want to play, you can outshine industry giants. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is more than a game. It’s a message: creativity and authenticity still matter.
We need more stories like this.
Happy Friday, and happy gaming. 🎮