According to Eurogamer.net, Sandfall Interactive, the developer behind the acclaimed 2025 RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, is publicly committing to ignoring external pressure for its next game. The studio, which won Game of the Year at The Game Awards last year and was praised by French President Emmanuel Macron, says it will focus on its own ideas. Chief operating officer François Meurisse stated the team now has five more years of experience and isn’t starting from the same point as before. Lead writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen admitted she thinks about fan expectations but argued that trying to please everyone can “lose the heart” of a project. The studio’s creative “North Star,” she said, will be the team’s own personal taste and what they think is cool. This stance comes after the studio recently released a challenging expansion for Expedition 33.
The Post-Success Trap
Here’s the thing: every developer that hits it big faces this exact moment. You go from being a scrappy underdog to having a massive, passionate fanbase that now owns a piece of your creation in their minds. And that’s a trap. Svedberg-Yen is absolutely right to point to TV and books—how many great series have been derailed by fan service or trying to cater to the loudest voices online? The magic of Clair Obscur came from a specific, uncompromised vision. Diluting that with committee-think, even a committee of well-meaning fans, is a recipe for something bland.
So, Sandfall’s instinct to double down on its own weird, cool ideas is not just brave, it’s probably the only sustainable path forward. It’s easy to say “ignore the noise” when you’re unknown. Saying it after winning the industry’s top award? That takes guts. They’re betting that what made them special in the first place—their unique taste—is what will carry them forward. I think it’s a smart bet. After all, fans fell in love with their game, not a game designed by consensus.
The Broader Game Dev Landscape
This conversation hits at a major tension in modern game development, especially for mid-sized studios. On one side, you have the live-service behemoths that are essentially governed by metrics and player feedback loops. On the other, you have the auteurs who operate in a vacuum. Sandfall is trying to stake out a middle ground: acknowledge the audience exists, but don’t let them drive the bus. It’s a stance that could define their identity.
And look, let’s be real. This philosophy is a luxury earned by success. A studio’s first game that flops doesn’t get to make this declaration; it’s back to the drawing board. But Sandfall has earned its clout and, apparently, the financial runway to follow its muse. The pressure they’re dismissing isn’t trivial—it’s the weight of expectation that has crushed other studios. By stating this so clearly, they’re managing expectations early. Basically, they’re saying, “Our next thing might not be what you expect, and that’s by design.” That’s a powerful way to maintain creative freedom.
Will it work? Who knows. But in an industry that often feels homogenized, a studio promising to stay weird is refreshing. The real test will be if they can bottle that lightning again when they’re no longer the surprise underdog, but the reigning champ everyone is gunning for.
