Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 climbs chart after ‘unusual’ sales boost

One of the breakout games of 2025 is soaring up the charts even a month after launch, surpassing Doom: The Dark Ages in revenue.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 surprised everyone by being an early contender for game of the year, but its sales have also surpassed expectations.

Developed by Sandfall Interactive, the French turn-based role-player managed to sell one million units within three days following its launch on April 24. Since then, in very apt timing, the studio announced it had surpassed 3.3 million copies after 33 days.

The success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has now taken an ‘unusual’ turn, as despite coming out in April, it has ascended on Newzoo’s revenue chart for May.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 moved up five places to number eight on the chart, which lists the top 20 games by revenue in the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy across PC and consoles.

Newzoo described this movement as ‘unusual for a premium title’ as they usually drop in sales after their release month. As for the reason behind the increase, the firm believes it is ‘a showcase of the strength of a high-quality game and continued word-of-mouth marketing’.

Along with these factors, the mid-range £44.99 price of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has also likely contributed to its success – at a time when many new games cost £70.

Notably, the game managed to beat Doom: The Dark Ages, which debuted at number nine. According to Newzoo, the shooter’s placement was due to ‘a big portion of revenues being tied to Xbox Game Pass’.

While over 95% of full sales for Doom: The Dark Ages came from PlayStation and Steam, Xbox players accounted for 72% of monthly active users on Newzoo’s engagement chart. In other words, only a small portion of players actually bought the full game.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 also launched on Xbox Game Pass, but considering Doom: The Dark Ages is significantly more expensive to buy at £69.99, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the majority of players went down the Game Pass route instead.

The other new addition on the chart was Elden Ring Nightreign, which managed to hit the number four spot despite being released on May 30, 2025. You can check out the top 10 of Newzoo’s revenue chart for May below.

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