The team behind one of the most acclaimed RPGs in recent memory had absolutely no idea they were sitting on a hit. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, developed by Sandfall Interactive, has earned over 30 awards across ten different ceremonies and currently holds an impressive 92 critic score on Metacritic alongside a 9.5 user rating. Yet before the game launched, its own creators were so uncertain about its reception that they placed a series of lighthearted internal wagers on what the final Metacritic score would be — and every single person lost.
Writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen revealed the details in a recent interview conducted at DICE Summit. According to her, the studio had a running list of dares tied to Metacritic thresholds, and when the score soared past everyone’s predictions, the consequences kicked in. One developer was forced to devour an entire roast chicken in a single sitting while a colleague beatboxed beside him. Another had to dye his hair pink. Still others are on the hook for getting tattoos and performing stand-up comedy, though not all of the penalties have been collected just yet.
Despite the humorous fallout, Svedberg-Yen emphasized that the team is deeply grateful for the overwhelming response from fans and critics alike. She noted that the game’s commercial triumph has secured the studio’s financial future — a reality she called “a blessing” given the ongoing turbulence across the broader games industry. The plan going forward, she said, is to stay grounded and focused on the creative vision that got them here in the first place.
That creative vision extends to how Sandfall Interactive is handling the game’s divisive conclusion as it develops a follow-up set in the same universe. Expedition 33 presents players with two possible endings — one offering emotional closure at a devastating cost, the other preserving lives but stripping away free will. When asked which ending would be treated as official canon for future installments, Svedberg-Yen was firm: the studio refuses to choose. She described the situation as “a Schrödinger’s ending,” with both outcomes considered equally valid from a narrative standpoint.
The decision to leave the ending ambiguous was apparently baked into the project from early on. Svedberg-Yen explained that the writing team always envisioned the final confrontation between protagonists Maelle and Verso and never seriously entertained a traditional happy resolution. While one ending carries a slightly more hopeful tone and the other leans darker, both were designed as legitimate conclusions to the story — a philosophy the studio intends to preserve even as it builds out the franchise.
For a small independent studio to deliver one of the highest-rated games of the year and then face the “problem” of having underestimated its own work is a rare and enviable position. As the developers settle their silly bets and turn their attention to what comes next, the Expedition 33 community can rest assured that neither ending will be invalidated — and that Sandfall Interactive plans to keep swinging big.