Last month, when The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered was announced — and stealth dropped the same day — most RPG fans assumed this would hurt the indie-developed RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which was planned to be released just a few days after.

Apparently, according to publisher Kepler Interactive, it didn’t harm the turn-based RPG at all, and they have an idea why.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 And Oblivion Remastered Had Different RPG Audiences

While we can’t say for sure that Oblivion Remastered’s release didn’t harm Expedition 33’s sales at all, what we do know is the game still sold very well, to the tune of one million units in its first three days of availability.

Kepler Interactive senior portfolio manager Matt Handrahan explained (via The Game Business) why they think Oblivion Remastered didn’t harm Expedition 33’s sales, and it makes sense.

Handrahan said, “We always knew that Expedition 33 had a very specific identity. When I was in the press, I saw the Western-style RPG and the Japanese-style RPG as having quite different appeals and audiences. I knew plenty of people that would play an Elder Scrolls game that wouldn’t necessarily play Final Fantasy and vice versa.”

Handrahan added that Oblivion just drew more eyeballs to quality RPGs that week, stating, “Also, by the time that we rolled around, we had momentum of our own and we felt pretty confident that we could stand beside it. I think there were other aspects, like the price point we were at and the inclusion in Game Pass… so we knew we would have a lot of interest around the game. We were confident in that. And it went as well as it possibly could have done in our eyes. And, actually, proximity to Oblivion didn’t seem to harm us at all. In many ways, I think it just drew attention to quality RPGs that week and everybody was thinking and talking about the genre.”

Related

Optimized Graphics Settings for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Learn the optimized graphics settings for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to boost your game framerate while maintaining the stunning visuals on your PC.

While both Oblivion Remastered and Expedition 33 are RPGs, both are stark contrasts to one another. Oblivion Remastered is a more Western take on RPGs, which is Bethesda’s bread and butter, while Expedition 33 leans heavily more on the Japanese RPG (JRPG) spectrum.

Gamers can be a fan of RPGs, but not a fan of either game’s style, and that’s completely understandable. My take on this? Something that could have ended in disaster didn’t, and it seems both Bethesda and Sandfall Interactive are happy, which means this is a win-win.

While Bethesda hasn’t shared sales figures, the studio has announced that over four million players have ventured into Oblivion Remastered’s world, a figure that seems to be one they’re pleased with.

Related

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Success Might Lead to Future DLCs

More Expeditions To Come!

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Released

April 24, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Developer(s)

Sandfall Interactive

Publisher(s)

Kepler Interactive

Engine

Unreal Engine 5

Cross-Platform Play

No

Cross Save

No

Number of Players

Single-player