Sandfall Interactive's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 attracted many fans of Japanese role-playing games.

When launching this debut, the French studio was clearly inspired by classic games such as Final Fantasy 10 and Lost Odyssey.It can be said that it is closer to these classic games in creating a gaming atmosphere than the works launched by Square Enix, a publisher and professional manufacturer of this genre.

Positive comments and feedback translated into huge sales.Although the game is also open to PC and Xbox subscription users of the Xbox Game Pass, it still sold 1 million copies in three days.

"Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33 is undoubtedly a successful game, with official data showing that it has sold more than 1 million copies." Reese Elliott, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics, said, "The official statement is not about how many players are, but about how much the game is sold. It is an option, and I appreciate this transparency."

However, what is more worthy of attention is its sales performance compared to other games of the same type.

According to Alinea Analytics, the game sold more than 785,000 copies on the Steam platform in its first week of release, more than double the sales of any similar Japanese role-playing game recently, including last year's highly acclaimed Atlus game "Metaphorical Fantasy".

Here are the data from Alinea Analytics:

As a new series of games released on the PC side at the same time, "Metaphorical Fantasy" is the most direct comparison object in the chart (although Atlus' role-playing game has a considerable audience on the console side).For example, "Final Fantasy 7: Remake" and "Persona 5 Royal Edition" have been released on other console platforms before they were launched on PC.

"It is worth noting that two of these games are ported, but the data still fully illustrates how much players like "Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33," Elliott said.

Persona 3: Remake is a remake of a PS2 and PSP game, while Dragon 8 is the latest in a long-term and hugely successful series on the PC.

However, among these games, only Persona 3: Remake, like Light and Shadow: Expedition 33, added the Xbox game pass at the time of its release, which made Light and Shadow: Expedition 33 even more eye-catching sales in the first week.

According to Alinea Analytics, Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33 also sold more than 350,000 copies on the PlayStation platform.Elliott said the game has over 1.5 million wishlists on the Steam platform, which laid a good foundation for its long-term sales performance.

Elliott believes that the success of Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33 comes down to several factors, but first of all, the quality of the game.

"This game is excellent. It combines stunning graphics with a fulfilling turn-based combat system, blending the time-limited Japanese role-playing game combat mechanics in Superstar Legend, along with some Sekiro-style blocking mechanics. It also has a touching story and believable plot creation, as well as cute protagonists and love-hate villains, and a strong voice-over lineup.

“The lower price may also be a factor, as our Steam data shows that when a 3A masterpiece is discounted and reduced to under $50, many players will be decisive in purchasing.”

With Xbox about to raise the price of the game to $80, and Nintendo has already taken the lead in raising the price on Switch 2's Mario Kart: World, choosing such a price is good for publisher Kepler Interactive.

In addition, Sandfall Interactive has also targeted an undersized market segment in the Japanese role-playing game field in this project: a turn-based game that excites players.

“There is also a demand for a modern, realistic Japanese role-playing game,” Elliott said. “Squarkwell Enix is ​​cautious about launching such a game in the Final Fantasy series. Now they may regret it.

"Light and Shadow: Expedition 33 gives role-playing gamers what they always want. If you ask Final Fantasy players from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, what the ideal Japanese role-playing game should look like, they might describe something like that."

While Square Enix has produced many realistic games, its recent heavyweights, such as Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7: Remake, are mainly real-time action games, with traditional Japanese role-playing game combat elements only secondary features."Light and Shadow: Expeditionary Team No. 33" uses turn-based combat completely and without any concealment.

Senior Square Enix employees were asked why its recent Final Fantasy series no longer uses turn-based, and the orthodox sequel to the series has abandoned this fighting style since 2010's Final Fantasy 13.“I’m a generation that grew up with instructions and turn-based role-playing games.” Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida said in an interview with Famitsu magazine in 2022. “I think I understand the fun and immersion of this fighting style. On the other hand, over the past decade or so, I’ve seen quite a bit of perspectives saying ‘I don’t understand the appeal of choosing instructions in video games’.”

“This view is growing, especially among the young players who usually don’t play role-playing games,” he added.

Square Enix has not given up making turn-based games, such as its Dragon Quest series or Traveler series, and many remakes.

But it is worth noting that big-produced games like Final Fantasy 7: Remake and Final Fantasy 16 were released as exclusive games on the PlayStation platform.On this platform, many well-made, cinematic real-time action games such as Horizon: Dawn of Zero, The Last Survivor 2, God of War and Tsushima Souls dominate the single player field.Although neither Final Fantasy game sold as much as Square Enix’s expectations on PS5, they each sold millions of copies.

Factors influencing the Xbox Game Pass

Elliott believes that joining the Xbox Game Pass has also played a positive role in affecting the sales of "Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33".

“Adding to the Xbox Game Pass will always have a certain diversion effect on paid game sales on the Xbox platform, but joining the Game Pass can indeed — and has — trigger word-of-mouth spread, thereby increasing sales outside the platform.

"Xbox itself also benefits from its first-party games being added to the game pass, and third-party games like Palluo, too. It can also help indie games gain attention."

Xbox's marketing support is also very strong, and the announcement at the Xbox Game Showcase in 2024 has set a good start for the marketing campaign of this game."The Fall of Atoms" is also an example of recent benefits from similar phenomena.

Even if it was released at the same time as "The Elder Scrolls 4: Annihilation Remake", it did not affect the sales momentum of "Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33" on the Steam platform.

"So far, Elder Scrolls 4: Annihilation Remake has sold twice as fast as Light and Shadow: Expedition 33, but that's expected, as Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is one of the most respected role-playing games of all time, with many players having great memories of Elder Scrolls 4: Annihilation's early Xbox 360 experience, and consumers are looking forward to the remake - which has been an open secret in the industry - for quite some time," Elliott added.

It is also worth noting that Alinea Analytics itself has found that the release of a remake of a beloved role-playing game has not had a practical impact on Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33.

“It doesn’t seem to hurt us at all when it comes to the release of the same period as Elder Scrolls 4: Annihilation Remake,” said Matthew Handrahan, senior portfolio director at Kepler Interactive. “In many ways, I think it just attracted attention to quality role-playing games that week, and everyone was thinking and talking about the genre.”

Since Elder Scrolls 4: Annihilation Remake and Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33 are on different levels in the RPG realm, it is not surprising that they can find audiences on their own.But the success of "Light and Shadow: Expedition No. 33" is difficult to predict.At the time of writing, it has surpassed the Elder Scrolls 4: Annihilation Remake on Steam Global Sales Rankings.

"Who said turn-based combat is outdated?" Elliott added, "The door to creative ideas for realistic Japanese role-playing games may have just opened."