Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's lead writer was found on Reddit

It's no secret that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a bit of a surprise hit in terms of what usually generates success in the gaming industry. A game with such a strong level of production, made with just 30 people doesn't often come around, and since the RPG's major success, a lot of questions have been asked about how it came about.

Guillaume Broche, game director at Sandfall Interactive, recently spoke with the BBC about how he gathered this crack team of around 30 developers, some of whom had never worked on a game before, like composer Lorien Testard, who was found on Soundcloud.

Broche said that while being bored at work during COVID, he began recruiting for his passion project, and found many of his colleagues through online forums like Reddit. Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, the game's lead writer, initially responded to a post asking for voice actors.

"I was like: 'I've never done that, it sounds kinda cool', so I sent him an audition," she said. She was cast in a major role in an early stage of the game, but eventually moved onto the writing side of development.

However the team came about, it's clear they shared a passion for game development, and have put the industry on notice somewhat with their debut title.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is out now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.