Actor warns Sandfall culture

Kirsty Rider, the actor behind Lune in *Clair Obscur: Expedition 33*, said Sandfall should “value the amazing people who made this” as the studio decides what comes next. (tech.yahoo.com) Rider made the comment in a GamesRadar+ interview published April 22, 2026, ahead of the 2026 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Games Awards. She said her hope was that Sandfall would keep “all the things that they did in this one” and protect the team behind the game. (tech.yahoo.com) Rider plays Lune, the expedition’s chief researcher, in Sandfall’s role-playing game. Sandfall introduced Rider in the game’s English voice cast announcement on October 16, 2024, alongside Charlie Cox, Jennifer English, Ben Starr, Shala Nyx, and Andy Serkis. (blog.playstation.com) The timing of Rider’s remarks tracks with a year in which *Clair Obscur: Expedition 33* moved from debut title to awards fixture. The game won three British Academy of Film and Television Arts Games Awards in April 2026: Best Game, Debut Game, and Performer in a Leading Role for Jennifer English. (bafta.org) Sandfall has already said rapid expansion is not the plan after the hit. In a May 27, 2025 interview, studio leaders said a follow-up would not involve a big hiring surge, and lead programmer Tom Guillermin said the team did not want to change its structure or dynamic. (gamesindustry.biz) That stance puts Rider’s comments in the middle of a broader games-industry argument over growth, layoffs, and retention. GamesIndustry.biz described the market in 2025 as saturated and marked by widespread layoffs and rising development costs even as Sandfall’s smaller team broke through. (gamesindustry.biz) *Clair Obscur: Expedition 33* launched on April 24, 2025. Sandfall later said it sold 2 million copies in 12 days, turning the studio’s first game into one of 2025’s clearest commercial successes. (expedition33.com, gamesindustry.biz)) Rider’s warning was also paired with praise for the way the game was made. She said the team followed its own taste, made “bold choices,” and built a role-playing game whose music and style reflected what the developers themselves loved. (tech.yahoo.com) Sandfall’s own public line has echoed that idea. Lead writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen said the studio had used its “own personal taste” as a “North Star,” while Guillermin said the goal was to ship quality games rather than add headcount for its own sake. (tech.yahoo.com) So the immediate question around Sandfall is not whether *Expedition 33* worked. It is whether a studio that just won Best Game can keep the people and working style that helped it get there. (bafta.org, tech.yahoo.com, gamesindustry.biz))