Artwork for the Expedition 33' one-year anniversary update.

Sandfall Interactive

Publisher Kepler Interactive and developer Sandfall Interactive announced that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has sold over eight million copies since its launch last year on April 24, 2025.

To celebrate the game’s one-year anniversary, it got an update that includes a new haircut for each of the playable characters, as well as some fixes to bugs. The haircuts can be purchased from Gestral merchants across the game’s world.

Expedition 33 has been both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, winning numerous accolades from critics, outlets, and award shows. It most recently won “Best Game of 2025” at the BAFTA 2026 awards, making it the second game (after Baldur’s Gate 3) to rack up “Game of the Year” category wins at every major gaming awards show. The five shows include:

• The Game Awards
• Golden Joystick Awards
• DICE Awards
• Game Developers Choice Awards
• BAFTA Game Awards

It did face some controversy due to the use of generative AI during development. It was subsequently disqualified from the 2025 Indie Game Awards after it had won “Game of the Year” from that show. Instead, that honor went to Blue Prince.

Expedition 33 was my personal favorite game of the year, to the surprise of no one. As an avid fan of Japanese RPGs, I really loved Sandfall’s take on the genre, and seeing how the team’s inspirations created something special.

Sandfall is currently working on its next game, but it’s unclear whether it’d be a sequel to Expedition 33, or something completely unrelated. Either way, I’m excited to see what the studio has cooked up for the future.

Honestly, I hope that the next game goes in a completely different direction. Maybe it’s more action-based? Perhaps more stylized? Having distinguishable franchises helps gives them a sense of identity.

And I also hope there’s more Expedition 33 news to come in the future. A Nintendo Switch 2 port would be awesome! I’m sure there’s been discussions about it internally, if not the process already being underway. I mean, it’d be a great way to put the game back into the spotlight, and who wouldn’t like to take it on the go (aside from the Steam Deck). Oh, and if it does happen, please don’t make the physical release a key-card…please.