Latest news with #KeplerInteractive
Fashion United
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fashion United
Hannah Martin unveils video game jewellery collection
British jewellery designer Hannah Martin has teamed up with French independent video game developer Sandfall Interactive and video game publisher Kepler Interactive to create conceptual digital jewellery pieces inspired by the character of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 role-playing video game. Martin has designed five digital jewellery creations inspired by the in-game characters of Gustave, Lune, Sciel, Maelle, and Verso, which fuse classic metal craftsmanship and delicate fine art. Hannah Martin creates digital jewellery in collaboration with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Credits: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Each of the pieces has been envisioned to be crafted with 18-carat gold and jet-black obsidian to reflect Martin's interpretation of the rich aesthetic of Expedition 33, merging the fantasy game setting and characters with real-life contemporary art and high-fashion elegance. The developers at Sandfall Interactive then took the digital jewellery designs and intricately modelled them in Unreal Engine 5 to create a series of in-engine images that fully blend the digital and physical worlds. Hannah Martin creates digital jewellery in collaboration with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Credits: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Commenting on the collaboration, Martin said in a statement: 'It is totally new territory for me, and I have loved being able to explore and push the boundaries between reality and unreality. It has been a constant dance between real world and fantasy.' Additionally, Martin has created 33 real-life necklaces inspired by the design representing Verso, meticulously hand-crafting each piece in sterling silver. These pieces are not for sale and were created as a celebration of the game's beauty in an extremely limited quantity as a 'thank you' to community members and artists who have supported the game and its creation. Hannah Martin creates digital jewellery in collaboration with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Credits: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Hannah Martin creates digital jewellery in collaboration with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Credits: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Sells 3.3 Million in 33 Days — Not Bad for a Game Some Thought Was Going to Get Crushed by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has hit another impressive milestone: 3.3 million sales in 33 days. That's a lot of threes! Publisher Kepler Interactive and developer Sandfall Interactive announced the sales today, after the turn-based RPG crossed 1 million sales in its first three days of release. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launched on April 24 across PC and console, but also straight into Xbox Game Pass as a day-one title. It also launched up against Bethesda's RPG behemoth The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. But despite being in a subscription service and having that tough competition, Clair Obscur has carved out a significant slice of sales success for itself. It's worth noting the 3.3 million sales figure does not include additional downloads through Xbox and PC Game Pass. Kepler declared Clair Obscur 'a commercial success' and 'a feat for an independent production.' 'The game was developed by a small studio made up of around 30 core team members, some of whom were working on a video game project for the very first time,' Kepler added. When Bethesda shadow-dropped The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered amid the launch of fellow role-playing game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, most thought there could be only one winner. However, it turned out that there was plenty of room for both games to succeed. Indeed, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has done so well that French President Macron has praised the development team. Be sure to check out our tips for the important things to know before heading into the game. Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ or confidentially at wyp100@
Business Mayor
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Mayor
It's parry season
If you like games with parrying, there are two great new ways to get your fix: Doom: The Dark Ages and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 . These very different games — one is a fast-paced first-person shooter, the other a turn-based fantasy RPG — approach the mechanic in very different ways. Let's start with Doom . One of the big new additions to the game is a giant shield for the Doom Slayer, and you can use it to block projectiles or enemy attacks. The game helpfully signals anything that you can parry in a bright neon green that's easy to see as you're rushing around and destroying hordes of demons. When a green projectile gets within range or an enemy does a green attack, you can press the parry button at the right time to deflect the danger with a huge reverberation of your shield and an action-movie-like moment of slow motion. Like most of modern Doom 's action, it all looks, feels, and sounds very satisfying. But parries are also critical for fights, as they can open up an opportunity to hit the enemy with a punch or a few shots from whatever monstrous gun you're wielding. Stay keen for something green In intense battles, I'm always hunting for green glints to find things to parry to potentially gain an advantage. When an enemy shoots a spread of bullets with some green interspersed, I'll even run toward the danger to get in a good deflection. Some weapon upgrades have perks tied to parries, too, giving you many incentives to stay keen for something green. Read More Bobby Kotick to depart Activision before the end of the month Doom , very helpfully, has a setting that lets you change the timing for the parry window whenever you want. I have no shame in admitting that I've occasionally made the parry window as wide as the game allows; yes, it lowers the difficulty, but I like parrying every chance I can. Image: Kepler Interactive Expedition 33 's parrying system is just as thrilling and impactful, but shifts from fast-paced action to turn-based battles. When it's an enemy's turn in a battle, they'll often wind up their giant swords, axes, or fists for flashy, multistep attack combos, and you can parry each hit if you time things right. Every successful parry regains one AP, which you'll spend during your turn to use skills. More powerful skills typically have higher AP costs, so the more blows you parry, the better equipped you'll be on your next turn. Parry all of an enemy's attacks on their turn and you'll do a counter (which also has an action-movie-like slow-motion effect) that can be a very helpful way to chip away at a health bar. That's not easy, though: Expedition 33 's gives you a very tight window to press the parry button in time to block a hit, and if you miss the window, you'll take some damage. Missing multiple parries on a single turn might drain your health bar from full to empty, and given how tricky the game's enemies can get with staggering their hits or faking you out, that will probably happen often. The game lets you dodge enemy attacks, which has a much wider timing window, but you don't gain AP and you won't get a chance to counter. I found myself leaning toward parries far more than dodges: despite the risks, landing a successful series of parries, especially in a high-stakes battle, was usually worth the trial and error because of how cool it looked and how much it helped in a fight. I do wish Expedition 33 had a setting to adjust the parrying windows just slightly (and if you're on PC, there's a mod that can help with that). But I also get why the timing is so tough: the rewards are high, but so are the costs. Parrying can be a divisive mechanic, especially when it's challenging. That's why people bounce off of games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Nine Sols . But Doom and Expedition 33 both offer new and interesting takes on the idea that show just how rewarding a good parry can be.
Geek Culture
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33′ Sells 2 Million Copies In Just 12 Days
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to be on a roll, and its hot streak isn't going anywhere. After selling one million copies in its first three days of launch, the role-playing game (RPG) has hit the two-million milestone 12 days in — a feat made even more impressive with its debut title status. 'We've watched in awe as so many of you began your journey. Feeling every step, every emotion, every revelation alongside you,' reads the announcement post on X/Twitter. 'To those just joining us: welcome. Tomorrow comes.' The showing is the latest in a series of achievements from developer Sandfall Interactive, including an all-time peak of 145,063 concurrent players on Steam, surpassing its previous record of 121,422, a 9.7 user score on Metacritic, the highest rating of 2025 thus far, and public recognition from French president Emmanuel Macron. While there were initial concerns that it'd be overshadowed by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered , which Bethesda shadow-dropped two days prior, publisher Kepler Interactive said the near back-to-back releases helped to stir excitement for the RPG genre, and in turn, benefited Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 . '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,' portfolio manager Matt Handrahan told The Game Business. I knew plenty of people that would play an Elder Scrolls game that wouldn't necessarily play Final Fantasy and vice versa.' He added: '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.' It turned out to be a worthy gamble, as this humble passion project from a core team of around 30 developers has flipped the rhetoric of triple-A and heavyweight titles and the definition of success on its head. Indeed, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a rare success story for the ages with asinine beginnings — speaking to BBC, studio founder Guillaume Broche revealed that he was 'bored' in his previous job at Ubisoft, found composer Lorien Testard, who had never worked on a video game before, on the music-sharing website Soundcloud, and gathered a whole team of junior developers. Led by a stacked voice cast that includes Charlie Cox ( Daredevil ), Jennifer English ( Baldur's Gate 3 ), Andy Serkis ( The Lord of the Rings ), Ben Starr ( Final Fantasy XVI ), Kirsty Rider ( The Sandman ), Shala Nyx ( The Old Guard ) and more, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 follows a group of Expeditioners who have set out to destroy an entity called the Paintress, who paints a number on a monolith every year that dooms everyone of that age to death. Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth's theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia's greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Kepler Interactive Sandfall Interactive
Geek Culture
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
'Clair Obscur: Expedition 33' Publisher Says Game Benefitted From 'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered' Launch
It seemed like the launch of Sandfall Interactive's turn-based role-playing video game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 , would have been negatively affected by the shadow drop of Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered , but according to its publisher Kepler Interactive, this wasn't the case, as the games' simultaneous launch helped to boost excitement for the RPG genre with both titles benefitting as a result. Speaking to The Game Business, Kepler Interactive's senior portfolio manager Matt Handrahan explained how Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 managed to beat the odds despite facing stiff competition from Bethesda's highly anticipated remaster. The two games both launched in the same week, with the former released on 24 April and the latter two days earlier. 'We always knew that Expedition 33 had a very specific identity,' Handrahan noted. '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 [who] would play an Elder Scrolls game that wouldn't necessarily play Final Fantasy and vice versa.' '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,' he added, '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.' And its results speak for themselves, as Clair Obscur Expedition 33 has proven to be a big hit, soaring past one million copies sold within the first three days of launch while also gaining an all-time peak of 145,063 concurrent players on Steam at the time of writing, an impressive feat considering the relatively small size of its development team. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered , on the other hand, has unsurprisingly seen its fair share of success as a remaster of such a classic title, with over four million players since launch and raking up an all-time peak of 216,784 concurrent players on Steam. Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise 'duds' like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3 . He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Kepler Interactive Sandfall Interactive
