Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 seemed destined for, well, obscurity. While it had a star-studded cast comprised of Charlie Cox, Ben Starr, and Jennifer English, just to name a few, it was competing with the Oblivion Remastered shadowdrop, and was the debut RPG of an untested studio. It was unlikely to 'fail,' but it had all the makings of a cult classic, not a tentpole blockbuster.
In the end, it not only competed with Oblivion Remastered — selling over five million copies — but it also became one of the most-awarded games of all-time, with 400 GOTY awards under its belt. Creative director Guillaume Broche said that it "was completely unexpected from pretty much everybody," and Starr even told his friends to keep their expectations in check, but Baldur's Gate 3 performance and motion capture director Aliona Baranova, AKA Marie, Estelle, and Ulysse in Clair Obscur, knew it would be a hit.
Jennifer English, who plays Maelle, almost forgot to audition for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
"I knew," she said during a panel at Emerald City Comic Con 2026 (as reported by GamesRadar+). "Genuinely, I made a bet with someone called Jack who's on the Kepler [Interactive] publishing team that...
