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Microsoft has announced on Xbox Wire that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, one of the most critically-acclaimed titles of 2025, has become the biggest third-party launch title in Xbox Game Pass for the year.
According to Microsoft, this record is based on the number of unique players who played it during the game's first thirty days of availability on Xbox Game Pass.
This is the second major achievement Sandfall Interactive's debut RPG has achieved this year, as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 recently procured seven awards at the Golden Joystick Awards (including the coveted Ultimate Game of the Year) on November 20, 2025.
However, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not done looking to add more accolades to its belt, as it's been nominated for 12 awards at the upcoming Game Awards 2025 show, which will go live on December 11, 2025.
Sandfall Interactive's creative director, Guillaume Broche, notes that part of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's success was thanks to Xbox Game Pass by saying, and I quote from the Xbox Wire article,“From being there to announce our game back in Summer 2024, to coming to the studio for the Developer_Direct video in January, Xbox helped us get the word out there a nd reach a lot of players.”
He mentions that the subscription service was pivotal in“letting a lot of people try our game when maybe they might not have before. The turn-based RPG genre has a lot of fans but sometimes it might put people who prefer more real-time action games off, but Game Pass lowered that barrier of entry. They could just try it and see how it feels. So a lot of curious players could start the game, explore Lumière and the early game, and realize there’s a lot to enjoy here, even if they weren’t expecting it at first.”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG set in a fantastical yet ruined world where a godlike being known as the 'Paintress' is slowly erasing humanity each year, and you play as a group of expeditioners trying to stop her.
This game, inspired by classic JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Lost Odyssey, went on to sell over three million copies and heap praise from critics everywhere.
We at Windows Central have also lavished it with praise, as we gave it a 4.5/5 star review for its challenging but addictive turn-based combat system, imaginative setting, gorgeous art direction, and tragic story filled with pathos and symbolism.
The game became so successful that Sandfall Interactive is planning to add more content for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in the future.
If you wish to see for yourself why this game is considered Game of the Year material by millions of players, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Windows and Steam.
The game is also available for download on Xbox consoles, Windows PC, and Xbox Cloud Gaming for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers, with Xbox Play Anywhere support.
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