According to IGN, Microsoft has announced that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the biggest new third-party game launch on Xbox Game Pass in 2025. The ranking is based on the number of unique users in the first 30 days of availability. This is a major achievement for developer Sandfall Interactive’s debut game. It managed this feat despite launching just two days after The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered on the service. The game has also sold 5 million copies in five months, proving its Game Pass launch didn’t hurt sales. Sandfall’s creative director Guillaume Broche credited Xbox with helping to get the word out and reach players.
Game Pass strategy pays off
Here’s the thing about this news: it’s a perfect case study for the “Game Pass effect” when it works right. The service lowered the barrier for a genre—turn-based RPGs—that some players find intimidating. As Broche said, people could just try it. And apparently, a massive number did. This isn’t just a win for Sandfall; it’s a huge win for Microsoft‘s subscription model. It proves that a day-one launch on Game Pass can generate massive player engagement for a third-party title without cannibalizing its traditional sales. That’s the holy grail argument for developers on the fence.
Beating the competition
But let’s talk about what it beat. The competition in 2025 wasn’t light. We’re talking about Hollow Knight: Silksong, one of the most anticipated games in years. Also Atomfall, Blue Prince, and a bunch of others. So for a brand-new IP from a brand-new studio to top that chart? That’s wild. It speaks to the game’s quality and word-of-mouth. Basically, Game Pass got it into hands, and the game itself did the rest of the work. This result probably has a lot of other indie and mid-size developers looking at Sandfall’s success and rethinking their own launch strategies.
A new model for launches
So what’s the takeaway? The old fear was that Game Pass would kill sales. Clair Obscur shows the opposite can be true. It can be a powerful discovery tool that actually fuels sales momentum. Players try it, love it, tell their friends—some of whom might buy it outright on other platforms. It’s a hybrid model that seems to be working. Now, this won’t be the case for every game, but for the right title with the right hook, it’s a blueprint. With the game up for a record number of Game Awards, this story is probably just getting started. If you’re curious, it’s still on the service. Maybe give it a shot? You’ve got nothing to lose.
