The cast of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 stopped by IGN Live to not only discuss the beloved new game from Sandfall Interactive, but also to exclusively premiere an over 10-minute look at the game’s making-of documentary.
The exclusive clip, which you can see below, begins by putting the focus on the developers of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on the day before launch. It then takes viewers behind the scenes of motion capture performances, including how that emotional opening scene between Gustave and Sophie came to life and another fun moment between Monoco and Verso.
While the documentary is still a work in progress and the full video may change, we were able to chat with Jennifer English (Maelle), Ben Starr (Verso), Shala Nyx (Sciel), Kirsty Rider (Lune), Rich Keeble (Monoco), and Maxence Cazorla (Esquie) about their work on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
“We were all really excited,” English said of the time before the game launched. “We weren’t as stressed as the developers were, but I was dead nervous about it because we put all our love and heart into it and hope it pays off – and thankfully it did.”
“You can do whatever you do in the studio, but then it stops being yours,” Starr added. “You don’t know what it’s going to become. There are so many circumstances that go into the release of a game, and I felt, personally, there was a huge amount of pressure. It’s a game I wanted to be good for the team because they had put so much work into it, and because we didn’t just come into it, we were an additional part of it.”
English then went on to discuss what it was like recording for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and video games in general, and it was a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain.
“I get so lonely in the booth,” English joked. “You have to pretend. It’s very rare in video games that you get a playmate. I think it’s happened once or twice that I’ve had another actor in the room, so it’s a real honor when people think you were together recording. Video game acting is the Olympics of acting. If you can do good acting in video games – there is some bad acting, but not in this game – you can do anything.”
Nyx then shared how many people have reached out to her about how her character, Sciel, has helped them with struggles in their own lives.
“It’s so cinematic,” Nyx said. “It’s just so wonderful to be the voice and body of a character that is so rich and has so much emotional depth. I’ve had so many people reach out to me about how my character has helped them with their depression and helped them with their mental health. It’s so ephemeral and every moment is so rich and that’s a testament to the writing.”
Lastly, Starr spoke on the emotional impact of the game and why we care so much about these pixels that became characters that mean a lot to us.
The reason you cry is because there is so much joy to be lost,” Starr said. “You can’t have something that’s just morose all the time. If these people who are so vibrantly brought to life by these actors, if we lose them, then you lose everything.”
For more, check out our Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 review and how the game sold 3.3 million copies in just 33 days.
Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking Disney Magic.
