While the trailers were exciting, nothing could have prepared us for how goodClair Obscur: Expedition 33actually would turn out to be. Memorable characters, a beautifully tragic story, gorgeous artwork, a fun twist on turn-based combat, and, of course, Ben Starr. Sandfall Interactive has not only put outone of the best games of the year, butperhaps even an all-timer.
You’d think that this level of quality and precision could only come from a triple-A studio with an unlimited budget and plenty of resources, but as we know, the team consists of a handful of devs who left their big studio jobs to work on something they were passionate about. It’s unbelievable to think that this game comes from such a humble background, especially when you look at how it all started.
Clair Obscur’s First Casting Call Was On Reddit
While Guillaume Broche and the rest of the team already had the concept ready around five years ago, they were in need of voice actors for the cutscenes and trailers to show investors. While the final cast was made up of stars like Andy Serkis, Charlie Cox, Ben Starr, and Jennifer English, theearly casting call was made on Reddit, and was open to almost anyone.
Written by Broche, the Reddit post was so humble and full of hope that I couldn’t help but tear up as I stumbled upon it. There’s no way that the director who wrote that post five years ago could have known that his game would be so beloved when it finally launched.
“Hi everyone and nice to meet you,” reads the introduction to the casting call. “My name is Guillaume and I am working with a small team of indie dev on an ambitious AA game planned to release on PC, and possibly PS4 and Xbox One. We are seasoned Game developers who have already work on AAA titles, who started a passion project 1 year ago that is turning into a serious title that we want to release.”
Who at the time could have thought that this casting call would eventually lead to them landing the actors behind Shadowheart and Clive Rosfield,even if it was by sheer accident? While the original comments were about the roles, there were also recent comments from fans congratulating the team on their achievements. Considering how much I loved Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, seeing this casting call just filled me with sheer joy, and I’m sure it will do the same for any fan.
