Despite being made on a reported $10 million budget, a modest sum especially for a game that dominated the 2025 Game of the Year Awards, French developer Sandfall Interactive says it has no plans to significantly increase the budget for its next project. The figure stands in stark contrast to the industry’s biggest 2025 releases, such as EA’s Battlefield 6 (estimated at $400 million), Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (around $300 million), and Borderlands 4 (reportedly exceeding $200 million).
Rather than chasing blockbuster budgets, the studio remains committed to a focused, hands-on approach to development, with the director even suggesting that creative limitations can be a positive force in making better games.
“No, I think it’s good to have limitations when you are creative,” game director Guillaume Broche said in a recent newsletter from Edge Magazine. “It’s the best way to be the best version of yourself.”
Broche says that Sandfall certainly could boost the budget for its next project, but it won’t because of that very mantra.
Verso, voiced by Ben Starr, faces down an enemy in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33/Sandfall Interactive
Broche continued, “We could scale up now that we have a lot more money, but it’s not tempting for us. Even the management team and myself would still want to be hands-on and doing things ourselves.”
One of the defining elements that made Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 resonate so strongly was its thought-provoking narrative and the obvious care poured into every aspect of the experience. It is reassuring, then, to hear that this philosophy is unlikely to change with whatever the studio tackles next.
“We love making games more than we love managing, so we want to keep doing that,” Broche added. “These past five years were some of the best of my life, and I want to be happy like that again.”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 stands as a reminder that a massive budget does not automatically translate into a successful game, and its breakout success will hopefully encourage more indie developers to explore projects in a similar creative vein. Just as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 draws inspiration from traditional JRPGs, director Guillaume Broche hopes the game’s overwhelming reception will spark the rise of what he calls “FRPGs,” or French role-playing games.
“Our vision was something like, ‘The gameplay will take inspiration from JRPGs,’” Broche said in an interview with DenFamiNicoGamer. “But aside from that, we’re not Japanese. We’ll do things our way. Because we are French, we’ll make something French.”
Broche went on to note that Expedition 33 ultimately feels distinct from the traditional JRPG lineage. “I think the feel of Expedition 33 is very different from the lineage of traditional JRPGs,” he said. “Currently, in France, there’s a movement to make FRPGs.”
What do you think of the fact that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s devs are staying small-budget despite their $10 million success story? Do you think keeping their budget limited for their next project will ensure their creativity once again shines through?
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