Clair Obscur's magic number shines again: 3.3 million copies sold in just 33 days

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn’t just living up to its name — it’s turning the number 33 into some legend. Developed by a core team of around 33 people, this debut title from Sandfall Interactive has now sold 3.3 million copies in about 33 days. It sounds almost scripted, like the kind of thing marketing teams dream about. But no, it’s real.

Clair Obscur launched and went head-to-head with Bethesda’s surprise release of Oblivion Remastered. Toss in the fact that it also dropped day one into Xbox Game Pass, and what you have is a situation where most wouldn’t have expected a small new IP to even survive, let alone achieve millions in full-price sales. Let’s explore this further.

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sells 3.3 million copies without Game Pass boost

What makes this achievement even more impressive is that the 3.3 million figure refers strictly to copies sold, not downloads. So, players picking up Expedition 33 through Xbox or PC Game Pass aren’t even part of that count. Given how well the game has been received on social channels and storefronts, it’s safe to say that the total player count is significantly higher. But even ignoring Game Pass completely, Sandfall’s debut effort is already a breakout hit.

Let’s not forget: the game hit 1 million copies sold in its first three days. Now, barely a month later, it’s tripled that number. For any studio, that’s huge. For one made up of around 33 core devs, some of whom had never worked on a game before, it’s an even bigger achievement.

Against all odds, and winning anyway

When Oblivion Remastered shadow-dropped during the exact launch window two days before Expedition 33, there was a genuine risk that Sandfall’s game might get completely buried. That’s not how things turned out. It’s clear now that Clair Obscur thrived in its genre.

I was skeptical at first. An RPG from a brand-new studio launching in one of the toughest possible release weeks? But the opposite happened — a rare moment where a great game finds its audience without needing a franchise name or AAA publisher push.

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What’s next for Sandfall?

It’s barely been over a month since launch, but naturally, talk of what’s coming next has already started floating around. Sandfall hasn’t confirmed anything yet, but they’ve made it clear that ideas for a follow-up are already on the table. And let’s be honest — with momentum like this, it’s more a question of when, not if.

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Check out: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Review - The best RPG you will play this year