Sandfall Interactive’s boss Guillaume Brosh, former Ubisoft employee, served as brand development manager and plot leader before starting his own studio and launching the popular role-playing game Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33.
Why did Brosh go through a lot of trouble to set up his own studio to find a publisher for "Light and Shadow: Expedition 33", instead of directly recommending the game to Ubisoft? This is likely because the project is most likely not approved by Ubisoft.
Broche confirmed this in a video interview with French content creator Pouce Cafe.According to Brosh, it is extremely difficult to approve games like Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33, with original IP and original characters. Usually developers must be at a very high level in the company level to have the opportunity to market this project to the company's senior management.
"Yes, it's very obvious. Projects like this with new IPs, original stories and completely original characters are extremely difficult to advance in large companies. There are many approvals, and generally speaking, in large companies, you have to prove your abilities first and be at a high level in the company level before you can get the opportunity to sell such projects."
Although it is common sense to speculate that a larger studio will make game development easier, it is not the case, because Brosh believes that it may take decades to develop the game if it is a big company.The studio owner also said, "So it may take 25 years for me to do such a project in a big company. And I don't have that much patience. We also want to do things the way we do and really create an atmosphere. That's what this game is about - create an atmosphere."
Brosh also mentioned how Sandfall Interactive, as an independent studio, developed the game in the "right" way.He said: "I think we succeeded because we used the right method. We had some really good offices and a big garden - we played French balls every day for lunch, which is even reflected in the game. To make a passionate game, we really need that kind of atmosphere of ‘a group of friends making things together’.
"It's something that can only be done in an independent studio. The game may seem large, but in Montpellier, we only have 25 people. We are all familiar with each other. So, it's much harder to complete a project like this in a big company than in a small company. However, it's super difficult to start your own studio - not everything is so good and smooth. It takes a lot of effort. As a founder, you have hardly any holidays in a few years and you have a lot of sleepless nights. But it's all worth it, it's totally worth it," Brosh concluded.
Considering that Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33 is a turn-based role-playing game, not an open world, nor the appeal of a well-known IP, I can understand Brosh's idea.In theory, it doesn't seem like a good idea to approve projects like Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33, but publisher Kepler Interactive did exactly that and it paid off.
Since its release, Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33 has achieved success in both reputation and commerciality, and it is currently the highest-rated game of 2025.Hopefully other game publishers can pay attention to this game and promote more risky projects, because only in this way can we see games like this suddenly appear and bring us huge surprises.
If you have passed the game and are looking forward to more content, the development team said they are not against making DLC, but no relevant news has been announced yet.
