// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Sandfall Interactive say to the clock? You're falling behind.
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 9 October 2020 |
| Founder | Guillaume Broche (CEO) François Meurisse (COO) Tom Guillermin (CTO) |
| Headquarters | , France |
| Products | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 |
Number of employees | 33 (2026)[1] |
| Website | sandfall.co |
Sandfall Interactive is a French independent video game developer founded in 2020 by Guillaume Broche, François Meurisse and Tom Guillermin. Based in Montpellier, the studio was originally established to bring to fruition a personal role-playing video game project Broche had been working on since 2019.
Initially titled "We Lost", Broche's project would ultimately be revamped into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Sandfall's debut game. Released in April 2025, Expedition 33 was met with universal acclaim from critics, won a myriad of accolades and sold over 8 million copies in its first year.
History
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Sandfall originates in 2019 with Guillaume Broche, an employee of Ubisoft, and his ideas for a game, not long before the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] A huge aficionado of Japanese RPGs, these ideas soon grew into a passion project inspired by his childhood favorites, most notably the Final Fantasy and Persona series.[3] He sent out some requests for help to craft a demo to a group of other developers he knew, along with requests on Reddit in April 2020 looking for voice actors for said demo.
In order to focus on his project full-time, Broche soon left Ubisoft and established Sandfall Interactive in October 2020 with François Meurisse, an old university friend, and Tom Guillermin, a fellow young French developer whom he met during their stint at a Ubisoft subsidiary in Malmö, Sweden. The three co-founders would soon be joined by Lorien Testard, Nicholas Maxson-Francombe and Jennifer Svedberg-Yen; the six forming the kick-off team.[3][2] Lorien Testard, the composer, was discovered by Broche through a post on a French indie video game forum where he linked a track from his SoundCloud page.[4][3][5] Maxson-Francombe, the game's art director, was discovered and recruited off ArtStation by Broche. Svedberg-Yen, one of the voice actors who had stumbled upon Broche's Reddit post and was cast for the original demo, gained a more prominent role as development progressed, becoming the game's lead writer. The original project envisioned by Broche, titled "We Lost", was ultimately revamped in 2021 into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.[3]
After inking a partnership with Kepler Interactive, which was officially announced in early 2023, and securing funding from said publisher, Sandfall grew into a studio of about thirty developers, three of whom—including Broche and Guillermin—were former Ubisoft employees.[6][7] Within the studio, each of the three co-founders respectively serve as CEO and creative director (Guillaume Broche), COO and producer (François Meurisse), and CTO and technical director (Tom Guillermin).[8]
Representing Sandfall's first game, Expedition 33 was released on 24 April 2025. Set in a dark fantasy Belle Époque-inspired universe, it follows the members of Expedition 33 as they set out to destroy the Paintress, an entity causing the yearly "Gommage", which results in those at or above an ever-decreasing age being erased from existence.[9][10] In this RPG, the player controls a party of characters from a third-person perspective, exploring areas and engaging in combat. Its turn-based mechanics feature real-time aspects such as quick time events and timed actions in combat.[11]
Expedition 33 was met with universal acclaim from critics, high praise from western and Japanese developers alike, and commercial success. By the date of the game's first anniversary since release, it had become one of the most decorated titles in the medium's history; having won countless accolades, including the "Game of the Year" recognition from each of the industry's five major award ceremonies: the Golden Joystick Awards, the Game Awards, the D.I.C.E. Awards, the GDC Awards and the BAFTA Games Awards.[12]
Sandfall's developers were knighted under the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) in February 2026 by the French Ministry of Culture in recognition of their contribution to the nation's culture.[13]
Games developed
[edit]| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S |
References
[edit]- ↑ "Meet the team behind Expedition 33". Sandfall Interactive. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Tom Guillermin: In 2019, I found myself casually chatting with Guillaume Broche about a side-project on Unreal Engine he had started to work on". linkedin.com. 23 April 2025. Archived from the original on 29 June 2025. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 Ramsay, Mel; Richardson, Tom (4 May 2025). "Clair Obscur: How a passion project became 2025's most talked-about game". BBC. Archived from the original on 4 May 2025. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
- ↑ "Lorien Testard: Composing the Music of Expedition 33". expedition33.com. 17 February 2025. Archived from the original on 29 June 2025. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ↑ Colbert, Isaiah (6 May 2025). "How Clair Obscur's Composer Created An Incredible Soundtrack". Aftermath. Archived from the original on 7 May 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
- ↑ Park, Gene (23 June 2025). "The odd path 'Expedition 33' took to becoming one of 2025's best games". washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2025. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ↑ Reuben, Nic (28 April 2025). "No, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 wasn't 'made' by 30 people". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 28 April 2025. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
- ↑ "Meet the team behind Expedition 33". Sandfall Interactive. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ Jones, Robert (28 August 2024). "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 creative director speaks about the dark fantasy RPG's stunning Unreal Engine 5 graphics: 'It's a key foundation for the studio to really look for the latest technology'". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 28 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ↑ Nightingale, Ed (28 August 2024). "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's fresh take on RPG traditions could revitalise the genre". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ↑ Borger, Will (3 March 2025). "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: The Final Preview". IGN. Archived from the original on 10 June 2025. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
- ↑ Welsh, Oli (April 26, 2026). "Clair Obscur's astonishing Game of the Year run should change gaming for the better". Polygon. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
- ↑ Phillips, Tom (6 February 2026). "'From Expeditioners to Knights!' — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Developer Receives French Cultural Honor". IGN. Archived from the original on 7 February 2026. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
