Five years ago, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 devs boasted about their first game idea. „We are really dedicated to make this project into something big in a close future”

A working trailer for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from five years ago has been shared online. Back then, the game featured steampunk and sci-fi elements, some of which stayed for the full version.

Martin Bukowski

May 14, 2025 03:30

Five years ago, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 devs boasted about their first game idea. „We are really dedicated to make this project into something big in a close future” Source: Sandfall Interactive.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been widely accepted as a great title. We are talking here about the final product, but have you ever wondered what the game looked like a few years ago, when it was just beginning to take shape?

Expedition 33 early version

Reddit s unearthed a 5-year-old post from Sandfall Interactive's CEO, Guillaume Broche. At that time, he was looking for voice actors for an "ambitious AA project." The demo of the title was almost ready, but it lacked cutscenes and voices.

The game is a 3d modern take on the JRPG genre with western style characters, developed on Unreal Engine 4.

The post has a link to a trailer, but currently, you need the owner's permission to watch it. Fortunately, one of the Reddit s came into its possession and decided to share it with the community.

Back then, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was titled "We Lost," and of course, it significantly differed from what we know today. The video shows characters engaging in duels in a turn-based combat system and exploring diverse locations. Among them were even a steampunk city and elements of sci-fi, which we will not experience in Expedition 33.

Broche itted in his post that "no shot is final," so it's natural that a lot has changed since then. However, there are elements that managed to make it to the launch version. Two of the characters featured in the trailer are named Maella and Lune, and are well known to players of Expedition 33. On the other hand, the character Frey was renamed to Gustav, but apparently the first name still appears in the game files.

I hope this project motivates some of you as we are really dedicated to make this project into something big in a close future.

Thanks to that post on Reddit, Jennifer Svedberg-Yen found a job at Sandfall Interactive. Initially, she was supposed to voice one of the characters in the game, but eventually she became its main scriptwriter. Another interesting thing is that one of the tracks in the game's soundtrack has the same name as its early version - "We Lost." Coincidence?

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available on PC, PS5, and XSX/S. The title is also available on the Game subscription.