Clair Obsur: Expedition 33 has taken the video games community by storm, thanks to its cinematic visuals, music, and performances. Releasing on the heels of Bethesda’s shadow-dropped Oblivion Remastered, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 publisher Kepler Interactive recently addressed the remaster’s success and confirmed its surprising release did not harm Expedition 33’s launch.

Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG from indie studio Sandfall Interactive, sporting a dark fantasy Belle Époque setting that surrounds a group of Expedition 33 volunteers who are tasked with destroying a being known as the Paintress. One week after its initial release, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 received its first post-launch update, where the 1.2.2 patch fixed a wide array of problems, including inventory issues and soft locking bugs.

Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered shadow-dropped a little over a week ago, but fans weren’t too surprised to hear the news after months of leaks and rumors suggesting the remaster was being worked on. Still, any stealth release with a game of this caliber is understandably a cause for concern when other publishers have games on the release schedule, including Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which released a few days after Oblivion. Luckily, Expedition 33’s publisher Kepler confirmed in an interview with The Game Business that Oblivion’s surprising launch “didn’t seem to harm us at all.” Kepler continued, explaining Oblivion and Expedition 33’s release drew more attention to the RPG genre, saying, “I think it just drew attention to quality RPGs that week and everybody was thinking and talking about the genre.”

To add credence to Kepler’s statement, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has overtaken Oblivion Remastered in key areas, including surpassing Bethesda’s title in global sales, and recently flaunting a higher concurrent player count on Steam. In the same interview, Kepler’s senior portfolio director, Matt Handrahan, touched on Expedition 33’s “specific identity,” noting the game’s Western-style RPG and Japanese-style RPG would appeal to different audiences. “I knew plenty of people that would play an Elder Scrolls game that wouldn’t necessarily play Final Fantasy and vice versa,” Handrahan explained, and added the team felt confident that the title would draw many eyes, especially with a day-one drop on Xbox Game Pass.

Looking ahead to the indie’s roadmap, a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 writer recently hinted that a DLC may be considered in the RPG’s future. While Sandfall continues to process the game’s critical and commercial success, the team may consider exploring the other expeditions mentioned in the narrative for DLC content, and the developer also said it would love to expand the game’s content if there was a strong desire from players.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Released

April 24, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Developer(s)

Sandfall Interactive

Publisher(s)

Kepler Interactive

Engine

Unreal Engine 5