French President Emmanuel Macron has congratulated Sandfall Interactive for its new RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, calling it a “shining example of French audacity and creativity”.
Sandfall’s game released last week to widespread acclaim. It sold 500k copies in its first day, which then grew to 1m copies within three days.
“1m copies and to date, one of the best-rated games in history: and yes, it’s French!” Macron wrote in a reply to the studio on Instagram (Google translated). “Congratulations to Sandfall Interactive and all the creators of Expedition 33. You are a shining example of French audacity and creativity.”
The game’s account replied in turn with the only acceptable response: a baguette emoji.
“We hope you’ve enjoyed spotting the nods to our home country throughout,” the original post reads.
Despite being set in a surreal and painterly fantasy world, Clair Obscur is filled with silly French references: from battling mimes, to stripy outfits, a twisted version of the Eiffel Tower, and a fair amount of swearing in French.
The game released in the same week as Bethesda surprise-dropped Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Yet Clair Obscur publisher Kepler noted that hasn’t harmed sales.
“Proximity to Oblivion didn’t seem to harm us at all,” said Kepler’s senior portfolio director Matt Handrahan. “In many ways, I think it just drew attention to quality RPGs that week and everybody was thinking and talking about the genre.”
“Outstanding artwork and glorious combat bring Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s bold, painterly world to life,” reads Eurogamer’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 review.
Macron’s comment recognising the success of a video game is also a welcome u-turn after he previously blamed the culture around the medium for riots in the summer of 2023. He later clarified on social media he “always considered that video games are an opportunity for France, for our youth and its future, for our jobs and our economy”.
“I expressed my concerns at the end of June because video game codes had been used by offenders to trivialise violence on social networks,” he added. “It is this violence that I condemn, not video games.”