Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a "great example" of a subscription service like Xbox Game Pass likely helping sales, analyst says

• Copy link
• Facebook
• X
• Pinterest
• Flipboard
• Email

Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful

Want to add more newsletters?

Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.

Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter

There's been loads of speculation around whether subscription services, like Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus Premium, cannibalize full game sales. At least in the case of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, one analyst reckons being included in a subscription catalogue actually helped it become a big sales success.

Sandfall Interactive recently announced that its debut game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, sold over eight million copies in its first year alone. The feat is very impressive for a first-time studio making an original game in a genre that usually doesn't penetrate the mainstream unless it's attached to names like Final Fantasy, Persona, or Pokemon.

Circana's senior director and video game analyst Mat Piscatella says the game's abnormal sales success might have something to do with how it launched into Xbox Game Pass on day one and has stayed in the service ever since.

Article continues below

"Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one great example of a game where its sales potential was likely increased because of its inclusion in a subscription service," he writes on Bluesky.

On the surface, having a game be available to millions of subscribers at no extra cost seems like an easy way to kneecap a game's sales, but there are certain situations where I think the opposite is true. Again, Clair Obscur is an original game made by a previously unknown developer - perhaps word of how damn good the game is wouldn't have travelled quite as far without the lower barrier to entry.

Sea of Thieves and Sea of Stars have also been big commercial hits despite debuting onto Game Pass, but it's not a sure fire way to sell millions of copies. Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke promised fans they'd never find Larian Studios games on subscription services because "direct from developer to players is the way."

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 gets a surprise update for the RPG's first anniversary and, my god, Monoco has braids now: "This expedition WILL be strutting around"

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

CATEGORIES

Kaan SerinFreelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

View More

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Logout LATEST ARTICLES

1. 1Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced parkour "builds on" improvements from Shadows and Valhalla
2. 2Final Fantasy 14 is finally letting healers be healers by removing cast times for attack spells and changing GCD heals
3. 3In 2003, Shigeru Miyamoto figured it was Nintendo's "duty to produce alternatives to GTA"
4. 4Yoshi-P has considered a single-player Final Fantasy 14 as some fans think MMOs are "not a Final Fantasy"
5. 5Final Fantasy 14 boss Yoshi-P "can't really imagine" the MMO coming to an end