Epic Games Japan and Sandfall Interactive recently hosted a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 postmortem event in Yokohama, Japan, where the developers shared technical insights into the making of 2025’s Game of the Year. Following the event, AUTOMATON sat down with the team and took the opportunity to ask about their thoughts on physical game releases. With PlayStation set to end game disc production in 2028, the developers briefly reflected on why they insisted on releasing Expedition 33 physically despite the added challenges, and discussed why they believe physical editions remain important to video games as a medium.
Participants are as follows:
Guillaume Broche – Sandfall Interactive CEO and Creative Director
Tom Guillermin – Sandfall Interactive Co-founder and CTO
Alan Reynaud – Lead Character and Concept Artist
Alexandre Breton – Technical Artist
For more about Sandfall Interactive’s Japanese influences, thoughts on Unreal Engine, and studio upsizing, check out part one of this interview.
Knowing there might not be a next physical release makes me sad
—PlayStation recently announced that it will end physical disk production in 2028. What are your thoughts on that?
Guillaume Broche: Personally, I find it super sad because I really like video game stores. And even if nowadays, I play mainly on PC myself, we have a lot of people on the team who play on PS5 and love to collect physical discs. I think it’s part of the beauty of art too – that it’s something tangible that you can touch. I completely appreciate that people want to have their rows of DVDs and games and just feel that they own them. So I think it’s a shame. I mean, business-wise, I can understand why it may make sense, but I think in terms of the artistry of video games, it’s a sad decision.
Tom Guillermin: In our discussions with our publisher prior to the release of Expedition 33, the question of whether or not to do a physical release cropped up. A physical release adds more constraints because you have to account for the production time of the physical items, and you also earn less money per copy.
But for us, physical was something special. We also felt that the game could be special to players, and that they would want to, as Guillaume said, hold it in their hands.
So even though it made things harder and meant less money per unit, it was important for us to provide players who want to have the physical game in their hands with an option. Because that’s what we value as players too.
Guillaume Broche: To add to that, there were two very strong moments when the game released. After launch, we went to a video game store to buy our own game (laughs). Just as a gesture. And another strong memory I have is when someone from Japan sent me a picture [of our game] from a video game store – in Akihabara I think – in Japanese writing and all. I felt like a kid when I saw it. I was like “Yeah, it’s real!” It starts feeling real when you see it in stores.
Alan Reynaud: Even now when I’m going to the supermarket or something, if I see our game in a store, it always makes my day. It’s a bit selfish, because it’s our game, but it always makes me go “Oh!”
Knowing that may not be possible again makes me a bit sad. And maybe it’s the child in me, but I like to go outside, buy a game, and come back home with it. It’s a nice feeling.
Alexandre Breton: And it’s not just because it’s “our game.” I think what’s cool [about physical games in general] is that a few years later, you’ll have your box, and you can hold it and look at the title and remember all the memories that are linked to the game.
Alan Reynaud: I think the same principle can apply to manga. It’s nice to read on your phone and stuff, but having a real book is just a different feeling. And I don’t think we could imagine a world where manga is just scanned and stored on your computer. It would be sad to not have it in your library. I think the same applies for games. Sure, it makes more sense business-wise, but you lose the spirit of it.
—Thank you for your time!
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available for PC (Steam), PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
I have a friend who was managing several Game Stop stores and every year he complained how diminished foot traffic is. The reality is that we’ve reached a point where gamers’ purchasing patterns have made transitioning to digital completely feasible in the eyes of the manufacturers. I actually do not personally know a single gamer who still buys physical copies and it seems like the lure of increased profits and control outweighed the costs of reputation for these massive companies.
Not surprised one bit.. They knew the market they were creating from day one. Folks forget, that Sony is also one of the ones behind the move to end physical media with CD’s, DVD’s and Blurays (which they created to phase out DVD’s). It wasn’t that long ago, that the key players in this game made themselves known.. It is simple.. Jack up the price of physical media, then offer a cheaper alternative during a time when finances are teetering in most households, and you have created an artificial market that you now control. So of course, the next logical step is to destroy that which was the target all along.. This is just another spoke in the wheel of monopolization. Even Hollywood knew this was coming and saw the greedy hands at work, which is why you see the acquisitions of studios taking place and actors and actresses, moving over to Netflix and Amazon. Greed follows greed. However, consumers are still tone deaf, irregardless of the glaring warnings and immutable fine print even stating you will own nothing, all the while spouting, “this is the way.”, on their way to plunge their heads in the sand, and inevitably give up ownership and control, bit by bit. Completely forgetful of the most powerful tool we wield, by speaking with our wallets. Many may ignore the writing on the wall now, but when the moment comes when you are being told what you can and cannot do, all the while feeling the loss of control and devaluation of choice, it wont be so easy to ignore then.. Now think about that for a minute.. gloss it over.. this is happening elsewhere, not just with physical media. Pay attention and read the room.. This is just the beginning. And I can guarantee you, other greedy hands, are watching how this transpires and taking notes..
The end of Physical Media is rapidly encroaching and it’s only a matter of time, however sad or unfortunate it may be, before it becomes an inevitability. The times we find ourselves currently living in is a world changing, evolving –always evolving and where this has become the stark reality and these are literally the “dying days of Physical Media”. Welcome to the future, ladies and gentlemen…. Whether you like it or not, it is where the industry is headed and you’d be a fool not to see the direction it’s taking and business-wise ….it’s taking the smartest one that makes the most sense for the companies and publishers. Ya know the one direction that puts MORE money in their respective pockets.
And Yes! It sucks, it sucks the big one and we can voice our displeasure and our frustrations, we can sign petitions and devote blogs to the cause… But the point is moot now and we can just try to enjoy what’s left of this period of time, where we could hold a game in our hands and amass impressive collections that shows our passion and love for this industry. At the end of the day, no one can take that away from you, what you’ve accomplished when it concerns your game library.
If you look back at the span of time, we enjoyed over 50 plus years of Physical Media in the form of videogames, thru Atari 2600 to the NES, the NES on thru the SNES and Genesis, the less popular 3DO and Sega-CD into the mainstream of the N64 and Playstation to where we are now… It was an incredible time to be alive and present during the moment for all the different consoles and generational transitions. For those gamers who lived and experienced this unique period of time, consider yourself incredibly lucky…. I know I do!!
(There.. I cleaned it up mods.)
I rest my case with the post above, presented as exhibit A.. An unwilling transfer of control, summarized as a “wise-choice”.. And they say Stockholm Syndrome is pop psychology..??
You may lay your freedoms down willingly, if you so choose. But not I. As I summarized previously, some of us do see the direction this is taking. It isnt about the loss of physical media that is in the back of our minds.. It is what is coming after. Some can see the paradigm shift taking place in how businesses are starting to treat Consumers. And the passive-aggressive acceptance, indicates exactly where this is headed.
For those of you who still haven’t abandoned the freedom of choice you exercise as a consumer.. exercise it every chance you get. Greed may blind, but you still hold the cards, until you willingly give them up.