Although the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 now seems inevitable, even Sandfall Interactive didn’t believe their game would escape the most common Metacritic score of 2025. For the developers, that moment mattered more than any award.
There hasn’t been a single major awards ceremony where Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 didn’t dominate. The game set several records at The Game Awards, including becoming one of the most decorated titles in the event’s history. Surprisingly, however, this overwhelming awards success wasn’t what shocked the development team the most.
Long before the trophies began piling up, the real turning point came when the team realized their game had avoided the score where so many others got stuck on Metacritic in 2025. That realization alone was a huge relief for the studio.
Sandfall Interactive Expected an “80”
Speaking to EDGE magazine, as reported by GamesRadar, Sandfall Interactive co-founder François Meurisse explained that confidence was far from guaranteed near the end of development. “We ran simulated reviews between six months and a year before launch, and the result was around an 80”, he said.
For a debut studio, that score could have been disastrous, especially considering that 35 different games landed on exactly the same rating in 2025. Thankfully, those simulations were done early enough to allow the team to keep improving the game.
“Our goal in the final phase became reaching 85 on Metacritic”, Meurisse explained. The team put in extra effort during the last few months, focusing entirely on quality. “We hoped for 85, but breaking past 90 was an incredible reward. That’s when things really started to snowball”.
Even so, doubts lingered. The team reportedly placed bets on the final score, with most expecting something close to 80. According to Meurisse, this uncertainty is natural. “It’s very hard to judge your own game as a developer”, he noted.
“Your vision is clouded by those early builds, when everything is rough, like using text-to-speech instead of real actors”, he added. In the end, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 reached an average score of 92 on Metacritic and earned the “Masterpiece” seal from 3DJuegos. From there, the road to The Game Awards felt almost inevitable, but that first breakthrough came as a complete surprise.
Source: 3djuegos
