While a Nintendo Switch 2 release of critically acclaimed RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 might seem like a no-brainer for some, CTO of developer Sandfall Interactive, Tom Guillermin, has noted that such a port presents a “big technical challenge” due to the relatively weaker hardware powering the console. In an interview with Automaton Media, he also pointed to the fact that the Switch 2 isn’t as powerful as the PS5 or Xbox Series X.
“It’s a big technical challenge because we tried to do something beautiful with the game, but of course, the Switch 2 is not as powerful as the PlayStation or the Xbox Series X. So, it’s an important thing for us to consider, especially given the size of our studio,” he explained. For his part, studio CEO Guillaume Broche expressed an interest in building the port. “We are interested in looking for a way to do it, but it’s too early for us to announce anything at this point.”
Further in the interview, Broche, along with lead character and concept artist Alan Reynaud, also spoke about how Unreal Engine 5 itself presents its own challenges when making games for the Nintendo Switch 2. The CEO confirmed that “a lot of features don’t work” on the platform, while Reynaud went on to discuss features like Lumen Lite that, while helpful, take time to roll out.
“They’re introducing features like Lumen Lite now, which is easier to run than the standard Lumen, but these things take time to roll out, so we’ll have to consider the updates coming from Unreal Engine to determine what to do.”
Aside from this, however, the team has been quite happy to work with Unreal Engine 5, with Broche pointing to the engine’s own visual scripting language, Blueprints. He also went on to discuss how the engine provides “all the tools you need to make a game that looks big, even if you’re not a big team” thanks to features like MetaHuman. Even technical artist Alexandre Breton went on to praise Blueprints, calling the visual scripting language “very ludic”.
In the same interview, Broche had also discussed how the studio is going to “go a bit crazy” when it comes to its next project. While admitting that it’s too early to make any official announcement for now, he spoke about how much fun the team had working on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and how “we want to find this flame, this passion again for the next project.”
“Expedition 33 was quite a long project too. Especially for me, it was six years. For Tom it was five and a half, and for most of the other members it was between four and five years. That’s also why we want to let ourselves dream again and be creative again. We’re going to go a bit crazy.”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. For more details, take a look at our review. Also check out how it has managed to sell 8 million copies as of April.
