What Expedition 33 should teach the game industry

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the debut title of Sandfall Interactive, has received mass praise from the gaming world after releasing near the end of this past month. Many are already touting it as the frontrunner for game of the year and there is no doubt that major gaming studios are taking notice. But, unlike other critically acclaimed games in recent years, Expedition 33 may have a better chance at teaching a lesson to the increasingly out of touch gaming industry because of the people who made it.

Guillaume Broche, the CEO and Creative Director of Sandfall Interactive, and Tom Guillermin, the Chief Technology Officer and Lead Programmer, are two former Ubisoft employees who founded the new studio in 2020, beginning work on Project W which later became Expedition 33. The internet has latched on to their former affiliation, drawing comparisons between Broche and Guillermin’s latest title, and Ubisoft projects in recent years.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Star Wars Outlaws, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows all released in the past couple years and have all had mediocre receptions at best. On Metacritic, critic reviews gave Avatar a score of 72, Outlaws a score of 75, and Shadows a score of 81. However, its in the user scores that the public’s attitude towards the games are really revealed. Avatar has the highest with a 7.1, Outlaws the lowest with a 5.4, and Shadows right in the middle with a 6.3. For comparison, Expedition 33 broke the record for the highest user score of all time on Metacritic, with a 9.7.

Sales numbers are harder to come by for Ubisoft’s titles. Shadows, the most recent and most well received out of the three, is said to be the second-best selling game of the year, only behind Monster Hunter: Wilds. However, that means that Shadows has sold over two million copies that the third best seller of the year, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II has, but less than the eight million Wilds has done thus far.

Expedition 33 has done fantastic, selling over one million copies in just three days. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say the title could surpass Shadows. However, even if it falls short, the positive press the game has been showered with will pay dividends when Sandfall release their next title. The studio has established themselves as a big player in the industry after their very first release.

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So what can Ubisoft learn from their former employees?

Being the first title of a new studio, Sandfall were able to realise a unique vision that while inspired by fantastic games that came before, such as the Persona or Final Fantasy series, was something different than the rest on the market. In other words, they didn’t follow the generally accepted vision of what makes a popular game. A vision that is made by the those in a company making the business decisions rather than the creative ones. A vision that often revolves around already established IPs or currently prevalent genre’s such as live service games. Oh, and of course an open-world design.

Expedition 33 prioritises creativity in its story, its combat, its world, and its art design. That combined with clarity in its vision allowed for an incredible experience. Something like shadows on the other hand feels to derivative of what came before. Its no surprise, as the assassin’s creed franchise is 14 main instalments deep. The amount of innovations made in that time has been negligible. Instead, players know what to expect before they even play.

Easy to pick up combat with a lack of depth and difficulty, and a vast world that although visually stunning, lacks real character, instead filled with repetitive time-wasting activities. Not to mention uninteresting characters and stories. Even the one innovation that was made, the inclusion of a second character and thereby a second playstyle, feels forced in order to please both old fans hoping for a nostalgic experience, and new fans hoping for something different (or more akin to Ghost of Tushima).

For some, the tried and true Ubisoft formula creates an experience that they can enjoy in a meditative state, without having to think too hard. But for an always increasing number of others, they know to stay away from the developer’s titles.

It’s not that Ubisoft can’t put together a team that can create a creative and focused experience. It’s just that they will immediately disband said team once sales figures don’t meet ridiculous standards, and the developers are blamed rather than the lack of proper marketing and timely releases on all platforms. Case and point, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, a metroidvania title that received critical acclaim, but only sold 1.3 million copies, falling short of expectations. However, the game wasn’t marketed as much as other Ubisoft titles, and wasn’t released on Steam, a major market, until August of last year, half a year after its initial release.

Ubisoft, like every other major development studio, are looking for a major hit right out the gate. Instead, maybe prioritising smaller critical successes, made by smaller teams with more creative control will improve their reputation. And then when they release a larger title in the future, fans might trust them when they claim it’s an experience worth paying full price for.

Maybe that’s the lesson the gaming industry should learn from Expedition 33. Creativity and clarity over bandwagon and bloat.

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