Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Devs Made Wild Bets on Metacritic Score Before Launch, and All of Them Lost

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has racked up an impressive tally of over 30 awards across 10 different ceremonies, including our own Game of the Year honor, plus a heap of additional nominations. The game currently enjoys a stellar 92 critic score on Metacritic, paired with a 9.5 user rating.

It's an outstanding title, but its developers had little clue just how well it would be received before launch. This became clear through a series of playful wagers they placed on the game's final Metacritic score—bets that every single one of them lost. As a result, several Expedition 33 team members now face amusing penalties like dyeing their hair, performing stand-up comedy, getting tattoos, and more.

These details emerged from our recent chat with Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, a writer on Expedition 33. She explained that the game's commercial and critical triumph caught the team completely off guard. While they didn't think it was a bad game, they never anticipated such overwhelming success. "There are internal bets on the team about what we thought the Metacritic score would be," she said. "If it exceeds that, they have to complete dares or tasks, such as getting a tattoo, dyeing their hair, or other quirky challenges."

Curious for more, we asked if anyone had actually gotten a tattoo yet. Svedberg-Yen wasn't certain if it had happened, but confirmed a few people were supposed to.

"There's a whole list of things people must do if the Metacritic score hits a certain threshold," she continued. "Some have already... I think one person had to eat an entire roast chicken in one sitting within a time limit while another beatboxes. It's a lot of random stuff. One person had to dye his hair—he did it, and it's pink. Another has to do stand-up comedy."

She emphasized that nobody saw this coming, so everyone lost their bets. "None of us really expected this, so everybody lost. Everybody lost their bet."

Despite technically "losing," it's obvious the team truly "won" with Expedition 33's success. Svedberg-Yen acknowledged this gratefully: "We're all very, very appreciative of the massive response from fans and players. It's incredible. One positive outcome is that the studio's future is financially secure, which is a real blessing amid the broader industry's challenges. We don't take that for granted. So we'll keep our eyes on the prize, stay focused on the art, joy, and games we want to create."

Our interview with Svedberg-Yen also covered her unconventional path to becoming a writer on Expedition 33, the emotional inspirations behind each main character, and whether the game will ever have a "canon" ending. You can read the full conversation with her right here.