Since its release last April, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has achieved what could almost be described as unthinkable today: a general consensus. Indeed, at a time when each new release tends to divide and spark controversy, Sandfall Interactive's title had until now managed to bring everyone into agreement thanks to its many qualities. But that was without taking into account the "magic" of X, which recently saw the emergence of serious allegations against the studio, to the point of forcing it to speak out publicly.
Sandfall Interactive at the heart of a serious controversy
It all started on June 4th. Visibly annoyed by the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a certain internet user named Hocine then declared the following: "We don't forget that they refuse to hire non-French or non-white people before even looking at the CV, eh. Not because it's good to suck at the game, but we have to start denouncing the studio's problem." Serious accusations of racism and discrimination against Sandfall, then, which he then tries to support by posting a private Discord message.
In it, an individual - whose identity has been anonymized - then returns to his personal experience with the creators of Clair Obscur Expedition 33, for whom he had tried to apply. "When I was finishing my studies, a friend and I (who is not French and racialized, for the record) were going around the studios in Montpellier to hand out CVs in person. When we arrived at Sandfall, these dirty bastards just yelled at us like they don't recruit juniors, etc., and threw us out without taking our CVs," he explains. Before continuing: "And some time later, I learned that a guy I know (who is white) was hired there.".
But the story doesn't end there. Because after the testimony finally come the fallacious allegations, in which the level designer of Clair Obscur Expedition 33 would be "a fan of the raptor" while the studio's leads would be "former Ubisoft employees who left during the wave of denunciations of assaults and harassment [because] according to them, the studio is too woke".
The Clair Obscur Expedition 33 studio sets the record straight
Of course, for many, it has been particularly difficult to take such accusations seriously. Moreover, a community note was quickly posted on the post in question to warn Internet users that "the author of the post does not support his accusations with evidence or established facts, which therefore makes them fallacious accusations." But the internet being what it is, the rumor spread like wildfire, and other accusations against Sandfall were quick to emerge.
Among others, a photo of the team behind Clair Obscur Expedition 33 quickly made the rounds online to prove that the studio was predominantly made up of white developers. "The only one tism is the dog", for example, joked one Internet user on X. "30 developers and only white people, it's true that it's suspicious" declared another. This adds fuel to the fire, to the point of finally pushing Sandfall Interactive to officially speak out about this whole thing:
We've noticed online discussions about us and our values, so we want to be absolutely clear: Clair Obscur Expedition 33 was created with respect and tolerance by teams and partners of diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. Our game was made with love. Please do not use it as a weapon to spread hate.
Sandfall Interactive, June 5 on X
The die is cast
Perfectly wise words from the studio, which are a great opportunity to remind everyone that spreading such allegations without any concrete evidence is an extremely serious matter. Fortunately, the message has now been received, and players can now refocus on what matters most: enjoying and enjoying their experience with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Meanwhile, the Sandfall team is already busy working on its next game, the exact nature of which is still unknown at this time.
Source: Sandfall Interactive
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