Hideo Kojima just threw some serious praise at Sandfall Interactive, the talented studio behind the much-buzzed-about game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. During a recent Q&A session with Dexerto, he revealed that he truly admires their smaller team size, calling it “ideal.” While his own studio, Kojima Productions, has ballooned to over 200 developers, he finds beauty in the tighter-knit crew.
Kojima highlighted Sandfall’s compact team of just 33 membersâ€â€and yes, a dog! “That’s my ideal when I create something with a team,” he said, reflecting on how creation has expanded in scope and size over the years. Our favorite game designer noted the ongoing struggle of efficiency against the grand ambitions of modern game design.
There’s been some debate, though, regarding the exact size of the team that brought Expedition 33 to life. While the credits roll out around 30-40 core staff at Sandfall, the reality is far broader with numerous outsourced specialists that bump the total crew involved into the hundreds. Some players argue that labeling this game as a product of just a small team isn’t an entirely accurate statement.
Released on April 24, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been met with critical acclaim, boasting impressive Metacritic scores of 93 on PS5, 91 on Xbox Series X/S, and 91 on PC. French president Emmanuel Macron even chimed in, celebrating the game’s rapid success of 1 million copies sold within its first three days. “One million copies sold and currently one of the highest-rated games in history, and yes, it’s French,” he wrote, showering praise on Sandfall Interactive.
And that’s not all. Just over a month after launch, the studio proudly announced sales hitting 3.3 million copies in just 33 days! With Kojima’s next project, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, set to arrive on June 26 exclusively for PlayStation 5, the gaming world is abuzz with expectations. The spotlight is on these developers, proving that sometimes, smaller teams can pack a mighty punch.