Hideo Kojima has praised the development team behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. In a recent Q&A session, Kojima called the team’s 33 members and a dog his “ideal” when creating something. Kojima reflected on his own studio, Kojima Productions, which had grown to over 200 developers during the pandemic.
He expressed a preference for working with smaller teams. “They only have like 33 team members and a dog. That’s my ideal when I create something with a team,” Kojima said. “Creation has now become much bigger. It’s kind of a war between how efficient you could be with the small team, but you have to make it so grand.”
There has been some debate about the total size of Clair Obscur’s development team. The game’s credits list around 30-40 staff members working directly at Sandfall Interactive.
Kojima praises the small Sandfall team
However, numerous outsourced animation, QA, and performance capture staff bring the total number of people involved well into the hundreds. Despite these additional contributors, the game’s creation with a notably smaller core team remains impressive.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was released on April 24 to widespread critical acclaim. It boasts scores of 93 on PS5, 91 on PC, and 91 on other platforms. The game hit a remarkable milestone by selling 1 million copies within its first three days.
Industry observers and fans have commended Sandfall Interactive for this achievement. “One million copies sold and currently one of the highest-rated games in history, and yes, it’s French,” one commentator noted. “Congratulations to Sandfall Interactive and all the creators of Expedition 33.
You are a shining example of French audacity and creativity.”
Just over a month after its release, Sandfall announced that the game had continued to perform well, further solidifying its success. As for Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima’s next game is scheduled for release on June 26th.
Kirstie a technology news reporter at DevX. She reports on emerging technologies and startups waiting to skyrocket.
