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PC Gamer
PC Gamer
Phil Savage

'You've seen the number of releases from AAA publishers dwindle and dwindle and dwindle': Clair Obscur's runaway success was helped by staying smaller scale in a world of inflated budgets

A dark haired character from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 stands in the sunlight looking upward with her allies standing behind her.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a tight, 30-hour RPG from a relatively small team that, since release, has sold over 3.3 million copies. In short, it's been a resounding success—singular and distinct, it looks and feels like nothing else around.

It's a game that's particularly interesting when compared to probably the most well-known turn-based RPG series in the world. As much as people love the Final Fantasy games, it's hard not to see how unwieldy they've become—expensive and time-consuming to make, the pressure is clearly on for them to sell increasingly unrealistic numbers to be considered a success. Both FF7 Rebirth and FF16 failed to meet the mark according to Square Enix's own financial reports.

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