2025 was an excellent year for videogames. We got Arc Raiders, Battlefield 6, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and of course, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a game that I in no way expected to love as much as I did. But it seems as if its success was a surprise for more than just myself, as its developers over at Sandfall reflected on its whirlwind ride (via Edge magazine issue 419).
"We conducted some mock reviews six months to one year before release, and we ended up with expected scores of around 80," François Meurisse, co-founder, COO, and producer, said. "So our official goal towards the end of production was to reach for 85 in Metacritic, and we did some great extra work and focus in the last months to bounce the quality up. So we were hoping for that 85, but passing the 90 bar of Metacritic was really a great reward for the team. That's where things began to get a little crazy.
