Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was one of 2025’s most unexpected hits. The *very* French turn-based RPG hardly fit the mold of current blockbusters, but after selling millions of copies within a matter of days its star ascended all the way towards winning Game of the Year at the 2025 Game Awards. As developer Sandfall Interactive seeks to grow its dark horse success, it may be clamping down on the brand harder than necessary as fantasy author Olivier Gay claims he’s received a legal notice over his similarly named graphic novel.
“I just received a letter from a lawyer from [Sandfall Interactive], demanding that I stop selling my comic book,” Gay tweeted. “It’s just an unpleasant coincidence.”
IMPORTANT
Je viens de recevoir un courrier d’avocat de la part du jeu CLAIR OBSCUR @expedition33 de Sandfall Interactive, qui me somme d’arrêter de vendre ma BD éditée chez Drakoo intitulée Académie Clair-Obscur, censée surfer sur le succès incontestable du jeu.
Bon. (1/X) pic.twitter.com/Alg9Y8IYuh
— Olivier GAY (@0liviergay) March 6, 2026
L’Académie Clair-Obscur was released by Drakoo earlier this year. The fantasy series follows an academy of magicians and a simple peasant who joins their ranks after developing his own incredible powers. Gay says he’s had the idea since 2019, but more importantly signed a publishing deal under the current title in 2024.
Beyond sharing the fantasy genre, the story hardly resembles Sandfall’s hit video game. The obvious sticking point is the title, though “Clair Obscur” just means “light dark” in French. Neither are the first works of fiction to use the phrase in their title, as it has most commonly referred to a style of painting.
Gay has written novels since 2012, including an expanded universe novel for Assassin’s Creed, The Blade of Aizu, in 2021. Sandfall Interactive founder Guillaume Broche was an Ubisoft employee before departing in 2020, giving the two a very tenuous, third-cousin-twice-removed connection.
Similar to their fans shouting down other RPGs, Sandfall might be overstepping on their branding defense here. In his thread, Gay says that while he believes he is ultimately in the right here, creatively and legally, he doesn’t have the capacity to pay to defend himself in court. As costly as it will be, he’s decided to change the title of the recently printed graphic novel. Gay says that it’s especially disappointing as he enjoyed Expedition 33.
“I platinumed the game and killed Simon with a full parry,” wrote Gay. “I recommended it on social media and I have boundless admiration for the success story of Sandfall Interactive.”
