Success in gaming usually means expansion. Hit game equals bigger studio, larger teams, more ambitious projects. Sandfall Interactive is deliberately breaking that cycle. Despite Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 generating massive buzz and securing significant funding, the French studio’s CEO Guillaume Broche has made a counterintuitive decision – they’re staying small.
“We love making games more than we love managing, so we want to keep doing that,” Broche told GamesRadar. “These past five years were some of the best of my life, and I want to be happy like that again.” That philosophy represents a radical rejection of how the gaming industry typically operates, and it might be exactly what more studios need to hear.
The 25-Person Philosophy
Sandfall Interactive currently employs around 25 people. That team size allows everyone, including Broche and the management team, to remain hands-on developers rather than becoming full-time administrators. “We could scale up now that we have a lot more money, but I would say it’s not tempting for us,” Broche explained, “because even the management team and myself, we’d have to be hands-on and doing things for ourselves.”
The studio head doesn’t want to spend his days in meetings, reviewing reports, and managing managers. He wants to build games. That desire drives every decision about Sandfall’s future. When presented with opportunities to double or triple headcount, Broche asks a simple question – would expansion allow him to make better games, or would it just mean more management responsibilities?
The answer has consistently been the latter. Larger teams require more communication overhead, more documentation, more process, and more people whose primary job is coordinating other people. Broche watched that happen at other studios and decided Sandfall would chart a different course. “It’s the best way to be the best version of yourself,” he told GameSpot.
Limitations as Creative Fuel
Broche advocates for something that sounds crazy in an industry obsessed with cutting-edge graphics and sprawling scope – embracing limitations. “It’s good to have limitations,” he insisted. Rather than viewing a small team as a constraint to overcome, Sandfall treats it as a creative parameter that shapes what they build.
“I think the secret is to adapt the game to the team you have and not the other way around,” Broche explained to PC Gamer. “And mostly, it’s not about processes, it’s making a game that you want to play. It’s contradictory, but not care too much about the players, because if you care about your game, it means you care about the players ultimately.”
That philosophy manifests throughout Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s design. The turn-based RPG features stunning visuals and ambitious scope, but everything scales to what 25 people can realistically create and maintain. Rather than spreading thin trying to match AAA production values across every system, Sandfall focused on nailing specific elements – visual style, combat feel, narrative hooks.
The approach worked. Clair Obscur became one of 2025’s most talked-about indie RPGs despite coming from a studio most players had never heard of. The game’s distinctive art direction, blending Belle Époque aesthetics with dark fantasy elements, stands out precisely because it commits fully to a specific vision rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
The Industry’s Expansion Addiction
Sandfall’s restraint contrasts sharply with standard industry practice. When studios achieve success, publishers and investors pressure them to scale rapidly. Double or triple headcount, open additional offices, take on multiple projects simultaneously. The logic seems sound – more people means more productivity means more revenue.
Reality tells a different story. Rapid expansion frequently destroys what made studios special in the first place. The small team dynamic that fostered creativity and efficiency gets replaced by hierarchies, departments, and corporate structures. Founders who loved making games find themselves managing budgets and attending executive meetings instead.
BioWare serves as a cautionary tale. The studio that created Baldur’s Gate and Mass Effect with relatively small teams eventually grew into a massive EA subsidiary. As headcount increased, the magic faded. Recent releases like Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda disappointed fans who remembered when BioWare represented RPG excellence. Dragon Age: The Veilguard faced immense scrutiny as fans questioned whether contemporary BioWare still understood what made their classics special.
Similar stories repeat across the industry. Studios expand, lose their identity, ship disappointing games, face layoffs, and either close permanently or get reduced back to skeleton crews. The survivors often reflect wistfully on their early days when everyone knew everyone and could iterate quickly without bureaucracy.
Small Teams, Big Success Stories
Numerous successful games prove small teams can compete with AAA productions. Supergiant Games never exceeded 20 people while creating Hades, which won multiple Game of the Year awards and sold millions of copies. The studio deliberately maintains a compact size to preserve team cohesion and creative freedom.
Team Cherry developed Hollow Knight with just three core members, creating one of the most beloved indie games of the past decade. ConcernedApe made Stardew Valley entirely solo, then expanded to a handful of collaborators for ongoing updates. These aren’t flukes – they’re demonstrations that small teams with focused visions can create experiences that resonate deeply with audiences.
The advantages extend beyond creative control. Small studios react faster to player feedback, iterate more quickly on design problems, and maintain consistent artistic vision because fewer people need to align on decisions. When everyone can fit in one room or Zoom call, communication overhead plummets. No need for elaborate documentation when you can just turn around and ask your colleague.
Financial sustainability also favors smaller operations. A 25-person studio requires far less revenue to remain profitable than a 200-person one. Clair Obscur doesn’t need to sell 10 million copies to justify its existence. Healthy sales to a dedicated audience can sustain Sandfall for years while they work on their next project without crushing pressure from investors demanding exponential growth.
The Management Time Trap
Broche’s emphasis on loving making games more than managing reflects an uncomfortable truth – management work in large studios is crushing. Studio heads at major publishers spend most of their time in meetings, reviewing milestones, managing budgets, navigating corporate politics, and dealing with HR issues. They become business executives who happen to work at game companies rather than game developers who run businesses.
Many don’t mind this transition. Some developers discover they excel at leadership and strategy more than hands-on development. But others, like Broche, entered the industry because they love creating games. Being pulled away from development to manage spreadsheets and attend executive reviews feels like losing the thing that made the job worthwhile.
At 25 people, Sandfall maintains a structure where leadership stays involved in day-to-day development. Broche can still contribute to design decisions, review build progress, and engage directly with creative problems. That hands-on involvement keeps him energized and passionate about the work. Scaling to 100 or 200 people would eliminate that possibility, transforming him into a full-time manager whether he wanted it or not.
When Expansion Makes Sense
Sandfall’s philosophy won’t work for everyone. Some game visions genuinely require large teams. Open-world games like Grand Theft Auto or The Witcher 3 need hundreds of developers creating cities, missions, characters, and systems. Live-service games like Fortnite require entire teams just to maintain infrastructure and create seasonal content.
Studios working on established franchises with massive expectations face different pressures. Fans expect the next Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed to match or exceed previous entries. Delivering that content consistently on tight schedules requires substantial headcount. There’s no realistic way to develop those games with 25 people.
The difference lies in whether expansion serves the game’s needs or just follows industry convention. If a studio’s creative vision demands more people, expansion makes sense. But if growth happens because publishers expect it or because success is supposed to mean getting bigger, the results often disappoint everyone involved.
What Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Offers
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launches in 2026 as Sandfall’s debut title. The turn-based RPG blends classic Final Fantasy combat with modern presentation and a unique setting inspired by Belle Époque France. Players control a group of adventurers facing an apocalyptic threat where each year, a mysterious entity called the Paintress eliminates everyone of a specific age.
The game features real-time action elements within its turn-based framework, requiring players to time blocks and dodges during enemy attacks. Combat combines strategic planning with execution skill, creating a hybrid system that feels fresh compared to traditional RPG combat. Voice acting from industry veterans brings characters to life, while the distinctive art direction makes every environment visually striking.
Early previews generated substantial excitement. Gaming media praised Clair Obscur’s ambition, visual style, and combat innovation. The game secured prominent showcases at Xbox events, indicating strong publisher support from Microsoft. For a debut title from a previously unknown studio, the buzz is remarkable.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is Sandfall Interactive?
Sandfall Interactive employs approximately 25 people. CEO Guillaume Broche has stated the studio plans to maintain this size rather than expanding, even though they now have access to significantly more funding following Clair Obscur’s success.
When does Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 release?
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is scheduled to release in 2026 on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. The game will be available day one on Xbox Game Pass.
What type of game is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33?
Clair Obscur is a turn-based RPG with real-time action elements. Combat requires players to time blocks, dodges, and counterattacks while making strategic decisions. The game features a unique setting inspired by Belle Époque France with dark fantasy elements.
Why won’t Sandfall expand after success?
CEO Guillaume Broche stated that he and the management team prefer making games to managing large teams. They want to remain hands-on developers rather than becoming full-time administrators, which would be necessary if the studio grew significantly larger.
Is staying small common for successful indie studios?
Some successful studios like Supergiant Games (Hades) and Team Cherry (Hollow Knight) deliberately stay small, but it’s relatively uncommon. Most studios face pressure from publishers and investors to expand rapidly after achieving success.
What are the advantages of small game development teams?
Small teams communicate faster, iterate more quickly, maintain clearer creative vision, face less bureaucracy, and require less revenue to stay profitable. Everyone can stay involved in hands-on development rather than spending time in management meetings.
Can small teams make AAA-quality games?
It depends on the game’s scope. Small teams can absolutely create critically acclaimed, commercially successful games with high production values in specific areas. However, massive open-world games or complex live-service titles typically require larger teams to execute properly.
What happened to studios that expanded too quickly?
Many studios lost their creative identity and culture after rapid expansion. Examples include various Telltale Games expansions that eventually contributed to the studio’s collapse, and numerous studios that grew rapidly only to face mass layoffs when projects underperformed.
The Future of Small Studio Success
Sandfall Interactive represents a growing countermovement in gaming. As the AAA industry suffers through mass layoffs, studio closures, and ballooning budgets for diminishing returns, small studios prove that restraint can be a competitive advantage. Players don’t demand 500-hour open worlds – they want focused experiences that respect their time and deliver memorable moments.
The tools available to small teams have never been better. Modern game engines like Unreal and Unity provide AAA-quality rendering without requiring massive engineering teams. Asset stores offer high-quality art and sound at reasonable prices. Digital distribution eliminates the need for publisher relationships that historically forced studios to expand or die.
Most importantly, audiences have proven willing to support smaller games with distinctive visions. Hades, Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight, Celeste, and countless other indie hits demonstrate that players value creativity and polish over pure production scale. A 25-person team making a focused, exceptional game will always beat a 200-person team making a bloated, unfocused one.
Guillaume Broche and Sandfall Interactive are betting that staying small keeps them happy, creative, and sustainable. That bet looks increasingly smart as the broader industry grapples with the consequences of unsustainable growth. When Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launches in 2026, it won’t just be Sandfall’s debut game. It will be proof that loving making games more than managing teams isn’t just philosophical – it’s a viable business strategy that might just save the indie scene from repeating AAA’s mistakes.