Dispatch devs tip their hat back to Clair Obscur Expedition 33

After winning Best Narrative at the Golden Joystick Awards 2025, Clair Obscur Expedition 33 creative director Guillaume Broche sent a clear message: “Play Dispatch, it’s very, very cool”. The shout-out was amazing to see and now Dispatch developers have tipped their hat to Sandfall Interactive, saying “Never had a game make me cry so quickly” before the opening of Expedition 33.

Speaking to PCGamesN, Dispatch narrative designer Polly Raguimov says Broche’s shout-out “means so much” because “To just take time out of your own speech to showcase another game, that’s massive, especially in that category”.

Dispatch creative director Dennis Lenart adds, “There’s a sort of camaraderie amongst folks who are developers that really believe that narrative in games is important”. Lenart continues saying developers who appreciate narrative “hope that each other can do well” and “When you see it done well, you appreciate it”.

While not diving into spoilers, both Lenart and Raguimov are complimentary of Clair Obscur Expedition 33’s story. Speaking about the opening alone, Raguimov says, “I’ve never had a game make me cry so quickly before,” describing it as “brutal”. Lenart puts the icing on the cake simply describing the narrative as “just incredible stuff”.

Dispatch and Clair Obscur Expedition 33 are two of 2025’s best games

Dispatch and Clair Obscur Expedition 33 are two of the best games released this year, receiving high praise from within the video games industry. The Witcher 3 director hails Dispatch as his “Game of the Year” and something AI could never make, meanwhile, Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is Game of the Year for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director, as well as several awards shows.

Clair Obscur Expedition 33 has already achieved Game Awards history, overtaking The Last of Us Part 2 for the most nominations. It is controversially nominated for Best Debut Indie and Best Indie Game, but Geoff Keighley’s show is not an outlier, as Expedition 33 is nominated for Game of the Year at the Indie Game Awards.

As for Dispatch, it is only nominated for Best Debut Indie at Geoff Keighley’s event. It deserves a nomination for Best Narrative, but it did release later in the year, with Episodes 7 and 8 concluding on November 12.

Sandfall Interactive and AdHoc have become two of the best developers to keep an eye on for the future. Expedition 33 is “not the end” of the Clair Obscur franchise, and Sandfall are starting to work on their next game, promising it’s “crazy” and true to the studio’s DNA. As for AdHoc, they are working on a game set in Critical Role’s Exandria. The door is “definitely slightly ajar” for Dispatch Season 2, but it’s not officially happening yet.