While writing my piece about the 2025 Game Awards and their approach to indie games that released this year, I came across some online discourse about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. More specifically, it's classification as an "indie" at all. I figured it was passing complaints due to it appearing more like an AA title, similar to Baldur's Gate 3, and how indies typically use more unique or simplistic art styles, or even just frustration that it got nominated over others' favorites. But the more I researched it, the more interested I was.
"Indie" is a term that I believe has been heavily skewed over the past few years, and Expedition 33 has, since its release, been the subject of many heated internet debates over its status as an indie at all. Was it? Wasn't it? Is it not more of an AA game? Or does it not count at all because they got outside funding?
Personally, I decided to research further and try to lay the question to rest, and what I found was more intriguing than I ever could've expected. From development to funding, and even public perception and response to indies as a whole, Expedition 33 is an indie title in more than just how it was made.
DEVELOPMENT:
To start, Expedition 33 was, above any and everything, a passion project from Guillaume Broche, an Ubisoft alumnus who dreamed of making something different and unique after growing bored at his job, no thanks to the suddenness of the COVID-19 pandemic shifting the world into abrupt chaos. He first began experimenting with it back in 2019, according to Sandfall's Marketing and Publishing Producer, Benjamin Dimanche, in an interview with the CNC, the French National Centre of Cinema.
"From the beginning, he wanted to create a real-time RPG prototype... “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’’ was built around this clear creative direction, present from the start."Benjamin Dimanche, Sandfall Interactive
Before long, Broche began recruitment in the strangest of places. It was a global pandemic, after all.
He first met the game's lead writer, Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, through a Reddit post looking for voice actors. He found Lorien Testard posting his music online. And, during the prototype phase, after coming together with Lead Programmer Tom Guillermin to work on the real-time combat system, Broche left Ubisoft and founded Sandfall Interactive, along with the studio's COO, François Meurisse. Soon after, developing Expedition 33 became a full-time commitment for Broche.
"The creation of “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’’ is closely tied to the founding of the studio itself."Benjamin Dimanche, Sandfall Interactive
As he was gathering collaborators for the project, Broche mentioned in an interview with BBC that he intentionally chose people who were "in line" with the direction he was taking, using Testard as an example.
"Lorien, when we discussed the game for the first time, we had exactly the same references... We loved the same thing[s]. We watched the same things. The discussion was so fluid."Guillaume Broche, Sandfall Interactive
The development, from there, seems to have flowed rather efficiently despite different members of the team working on multiple aspects of the game during this time, facts confirmed by both Svedberg-Yen and Dimanche. Even after receiving funding from Kepler Interactive, which allowed the team to expand to its famously discussed 30 members, the team was comprised of Jacks of all trades. In the same interview, Broche referred to this ragtag team as a group of juniors with "talent and passion" invested in the game. Yes, the actual number of people working on the game is much larger than 30, but that number refers to the size of Sandfall itself as a studio, and a game like this as a first-time release from a studio of that size is nothing to sneeze at.
FUNDING:
Of course, despite the passion from each member of Sandfall, development is a lengthy and expensive process. Funding projects is not unheard of, especially in the age of GoFundMe and Kickstarter campaigns for most independent works, including video games. The team did manage to receive funding from the CNC in 2021. This was something deemed crucial by Dimanche, allowing for proper team structure, validating the concept, and securing more funding, among other things. The team had also received funding from the game's publisher, Kepler Interactive, which was a bit of a tangled web for me to unravel. I had seen many talk about it online, but found almost no trace of any sources beyond the typical "trust me, bro" reply. But I've managed to piece the puzzle together.
Kepler Interactive was founded in 2021 by Alexis Garavaryan and Jay Chi of Kowloon Nights, a "hands-off and developer-friendly" gaming fund that focuses on funding independent projects and ideas. It considers itself to be a publisher and developer "built on a unique co‑ownership model," with seven founding studios at the start. Kepler is a publisher that adapted to the needs of the independent developer in the modern era. They saw the market and jumped at the opportunity to change the landscape in their favor, says Garavaryan in an interview with GamesIndustry back in 2021.
"When we founded Kowloon Nights, our goal was to support the next generation of independent developers... The evolution of that work is now Kepler, which takes the developer‑first approach a major leap forward in terms of scale and empowerment."Alexis Garavaryan, Kepler Interactive.
This explains the comments about outside funding, but it seems as if the reactions to this fund have been nothing but positive. Kepler received $120 million in funds not long after its founding. Pierre de Margerie, CEO of one of Kepler's founding studios, Sloclap (Absolver, Sifu), praised Kepler for creating a space where developers can feel safe and supported, adding, "That's the best way to make a hit game." Kepler's influence is undebatably powerful, even considering its short lifespan.
It allowed Sandfall the chance to have big-name actors like Charlie Cox and Ben Starr act in the game, something that Svedberg-Yen believed "propelled" the game's narrative further than she could have ever imagined. Of course, none of that would be possible without Kepler taking a chance with Sandfall. Even if they weren't involved with funding, we would still get the game, but it would've taken longer and not have been near the level it is now without their support.
"INDIE" AND PUBLIC PERCEPTION:
Over the past few decades, game development, promotion, and publishing have become more open and accessible than they have ever been, regardless of your previous experience in the gaming industry or if you've never programmed before. It has never been easier to become an independent game developer: that is what everyone perceives indie developers to be. People working alone or with maybe two or three close friends or family, making a game with little to no help financially or otherwise, out of their bedrooms or home office.
Now, that is not to shame any one developer for making a game. Big or small, expensive or cheap, solo or with a team, it is always an accomplishment that should be celebrated. However, I feel like the public perception of indie titles has been heavily skewed over the last couple of years, and that is coming from an avid indie game fan. I feel like the best description comes from the Toronto Film School's article about indies as a whole.
"At the highest level, they are games created by individuals or small teams who operate independently from major studios, both financially and creatively. This independence allows creators to experiment with unconventional narratives, aesthetics, and game mechanics..."Niko Pajkovic, Toronto Film School
This is the most general and widely accepted understanding of what classifies an "indie," but I'm far more inclined to agree with Pajkovic when he says
"limiting the definition of indie games solely to those that are self-funded overlooks the full spectrum of the genre." Yes, games like Stardew Valley, Undertale, and Fez are true labors of love for the genre that changed the gaming landscape, but cherry-picking these over other independent titles just because they didn't have backing from larger groups diminishes the larger purpose of indies as a whole: the ability to experiment and innovate. Larger studios don't allow such freedom on a scale like that, and Broche agrees, in an interview with French YouTuber, Pouce Cafe. (Full Disclosure: The entire interview is in French, but I managed to find an article from Mp1st that translates my main talking points. I will link to both).
Broche explains that a game like Expedition 33 would've been nearly impossible to try and pitch to a larger studio. He says that you'd have to "be pretty high up" to even try and get the chance, and expresses his impatience for those hurdles.
"So yeah, for me, a project like this would’ve taken 25 years to make in a big company. And I don’t have that much patience. We also wanted to do things our own way and really create an atmosphere. That’s what this game is—creating a vibe... Thats something you can really only do in an indie studio."Guillaume Broche, Sandfall Interactive
At the end of the day, Broche wanted to create an experience that was unlike anything else at the time, in a time when the world was shut down and the future was uncertain. Things like job security, as well, which Broche happily gave up to pursue his dream. Yes, you can argue that Broche came from a rich family, so he was never truly in any trouble during development, or that the amount of money that went into the game takes the value out of it, since a lot of popular indie titles came from nothing. What does it change, at the end of the day?
The Creative Director at Kepler Interactive, Simon Sweeney, in an interview with It's Nice That, said that games are art, that they take influence from culture and the world around us, so it makes sense for us to engage with that same culture. Guillaume Broche decided to engage with that culture and create something different from it, not expecting to reach the heights it did when he first began.
He took a risk, and risk is all you need, I believe, to have something truly independent on your hands, regardless of the help you receive.