{"id":49161,"date":"2025-06-17T18:49:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T09:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=49161"},"modified":"2025-06-17T18:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T09:49:07","slug":"hideo-kojima-admires-clair-obscur-expedition-33s-small-scale-dev-team-calling-it-his-ideal-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/hideo-kojima-admires-clair-obscur-expedition-33s-small-scale-dev-team-calling-it-his-ideal-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Hideo Kojima admires Clair Obscur: Expedition 33\u2019s small-scale dev team, calling it his \u201cideal\u201d environment\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Ever since <strong>Clair Obscur: Expedition 33<\/strong> was released last April, the game has received endless praise for its <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/tips\/which-clair-obscur-expedition-33-ending-is-the-good-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">storytelling<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/tips\/how-clair-obscur-expedition-33-alleviates-some-of-the-randomness-of-turn-based-battle-systems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">turn-based combat<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/clair-obscur-expedition-33-soundtrack-tops-33-million-streams-worldwide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">music<\/a>, but Kojima Productions founder and game designer Hideo Kojima looks at things from a backend perspective. He recently commended developer Sandfall Interactive for creating a well-renowned game with such a small team.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1255\" height=\"707\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1255px) 100vw, 1255px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20210527-162992-001.jpg\" alt=\"Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 \" class=\"wp-image-49168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20210527-162992-001.jpg 1255w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20210527-162992-001-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20210527-162992-001-768x433.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dexerto.com\/gaming\/hideo-kojima-calls-clair-obscur-expedition-33-ideal-for-one-key-reason-3215153\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dexerto<\/a>, Kojima says that Sandfall Interactive\u2019s 32-member team (<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/clair-obscur-expedition-33s-success-caused-the-dev-team-to-reconsider-how-it-should-approach-future-dlc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">33 if you count their dog Monoco<\/a>) is his ideal team size. When Kojima Productions was founded, it consisted of only six employees. That number has since ballooned to over one hundred, making it hard for Kojima to keep tabs on everyone\u2019s work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As much as Kojima would like Kojima Productions to retain its original employee count, he admits that game development is getting harder, requiring more manpower to create something grand that people will notice. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33\u2019s success made Kojima reconsider his stance on large development studios.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1268\" height=\"709\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1268px) 100vw, 1268px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20210527-162992-002.jpg\" alt=\"Death Stranding 2: On the Beac\" class=\"wp-image-49169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20210527-162992-002.jpg 1268w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20210527-162992-002-380x212.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20210527-162992-002-768x429.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly, Kojima previously talked with Mad Max creator and filmmaker George Miller regarding his studio\u2019s size. Back when Kojima Productions was starting out, Kojima told Miller that he would like to keep the number of employees in his company to under 150. Kojima Productions\u2019 employees exceeded 200 during the pandemic, but Kojima couldn\u2019t bring himself to tell that to his friend.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Counting <a href=\"https:\/\/rocketreach.co\/kojima-productions-profile_b457ba27fca49670\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">over 150 employees<\/a>, Kojima Productions is making <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/death-stranding-2-dominates-top-four-spots-on-japan-pre-order-ranking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">making waves on the pre-order front<\/a> with Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Fans are eagerly anticipating the sequel, but just as Sam Bridges and his merry band of friends and acquaintances, Kojima is hoping he can get the job done with fewer people.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is set to release on June 26 for the PlayStation 5.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hideo Kojima would love to work with smaller development teams, much like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33&#8217;s Sandfall Interactive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":49166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-49161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hideo Kojima admires Clair Obscur: Expedition 33\u2019s small-scale dev team, calling it his \u201cideal\u201d environment\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hideo Kojima would love to work with smaller development teams, much like Clarir Obscur: Expedition 33&#039;s Sandfall Interactive.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/hideo-kojima-admires-clair-obscur-expedition-33s-small-scale-dev-team-calling-it-his-ideal-environment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hideo Kojima admires Clair Obscur: Expedition 33\u2019s small-scale dev team, calling it his \u201cideal\u201d environment\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hideo Kojima would love to work with smaller development teams, much like Clarir Obscur: Expedition 33&#039;s Sandfall Interactive.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/hideo-kojima-admires-clair-obscur-expedition-33s-small-scale-dev-team-calling-it-his-ideal-environment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T09:49:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T09:49:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250617-49161-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1256\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"705\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hideo Kojima admires Clair Obscur: Expedition 33\u2019s small-scale dev team, calling it his \u201cideal\u201d environment\u00a0 - 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