The RPS has seen a remarkable resurgence in recent years, with both new IPs and classic titles drawing widespread attention from players around the world. With platforms like Game Pass offering a day-one access to major release, competition among role-playing games has intensified. In dynamic landscape, developers and publishers are constantly navigating release schedules, marketing strategies, and audience overlap to ensure their games stand out.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has quickly become one of the 2025’s standout titles, praised for its rich narrative, striking art style, and immersive gameplay. With a Metacritic user-score rating being the highest and strong sales—especially on PS5—the game has sparked industry conversations about indie success and the evolving impact of services like Game Pass.
Amid its rising acclaim and even a film adaptation in the works, another unexpected factor has quietly played a role in boosting its momentum. According to Kepler Interactive senior portfolio manager Matt Handrahan, the surprise release of The Elden Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered did not hinder Clair Obscur: Expedition 33—in fact, it boosted.
Speaking to The Game Business, Handrahan explained that the heightened attention on the RPG during that week worked in Clair Obscur’s favor, drawing more eyes to quality role-playing experience and ultimately contributing to the game’s successful launch.
Importance: The positive impact of the surprise drop underscores the value of leveraging industry buzz to amplify a game’s visibility. It demonstrates how competing releases can coexist, with one potentially boosting the other, especially in thriving digital marketplace. This also reflects broader trends in the gaming world, where the spotlight on genre-wide excitement can elevate smaller or indie titles, proving that collaboration and timing can often outweigh direct competition.
RPG Fans React To Simultaneous Launch Of Both Games
RPG fans found themselves torn between diving into Oblivion’s expansive Cyrodiil or taking on the challenge of Clair Obscur’s Paintress in the same week, sparking mixed reactions across the community. To add a touch of humor to the situation, Kepler Interactive posted a playful image on X/Twitter, showing Clair Obscur characters walking into an Oblivion gate, with the caption “omg it’s like Barbenheimer,” referencing the simultaneous release of Barbie and Oppenheimer in 2023.
Clair Obscur And Oblivion Remastered Achieve Major Success And Industry Recognition
Clair Obscur has become a major success, surpassing 1 million copies sold within three days. The game’s popularity has even caught the attention of French President Macron. Meanwhile, Oblivion Remastered has amassed over 4 million players since its release, also performing strongly on Steam.
Data from Ampere reveals a significant overlap, with 35% of Clair Obscur players also engaging with Oblivion Remastered, which boosted them, largely due to bot the titles being available on Game Pass, thought he overlap is smaller for Steam and PS5 users.
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