During CEDEC 2025, Automaton Japan had the opportunity to catch up with the creators of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, one of 2025’s biggest hits. Sandfall Interactive’s creative director Guillaume Broche and lead programmer Tom Guillermin talked to us about how they see the game industry evolving amidst ballooning development costs.
Sandfall Interactive has received much praise for producing such a polished game with a mid-range budget and “small but elite” team – and they think this development style is likely to catch on.
“As development costs continue to grow, I think we’re likely to see an increase in companies like ours, producing AA-class games,” Broche comments. “Thanks to Unreal Engine, it’s now easier to get an idea of the amount of resources you’ll need relative to your production scale. This makes it possible to develop entertaining games efficiently even with a relatively small team.” As an example, Broche cites 11 Bit Studio’s The Alters, another popular mid-budget title released this year.
Guillermin points out that the endless push for higher and higher production value is something most game studios cannot keep up with anymore. “I think only Rockstar Games is able to meet that demand. Therefore, I think that developers will have to put a cap on budgets, and we will inevitably see more companies settle on a development model like ours.”
With triple-A development becoming increasingly expensive and time-consuming in recent years, producing blockbusters has become a high-risk business for developers and publishers. Although it’s been said that AA gaming – the middle ground between AAA and low-budget indies – has virtually disappeared, perhaps the success of new hits like Expedition 33 will, as its creators say, encourage companies to adopt more sustainable models of development. From the perspective of players, mid-budget titles come with the benefit of a friendlier price point and shorter, yet more focused gaming experiences.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available for PC (Steam), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
