Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Lead Writer “Didn't Think Of It As Writing An RPG” – “I Thought Of It Almost Like Writing An HBO Drama”

The award-winning writer of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, has revealed that she didn’t approach the game as if she were writing a traditional RPG.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has become one of the biggest games of 2025, to the point that its award show wins are becoming a meme themselves. A major factor behind its success is its fantastic story, which has already won accolades at the Golden Joysticks and The Game Awards. Interestingly, part of this success may come from Svedberg-Yen’s unconventional approach to writing.

When asked by Edge’s Knowledge newsletter whether the fact that many team members on Expedition 33 didn’t come from a game development background influenced the outcome, Svedberg-Yen said:

“I think it obviously has challenges, because we’re new. [But] we were able to bring in our own tastes and our own perspectives that we’d built up through life outside of gaming, and bring the best of other worlds into the game.”

She added:

“A lot of times, we didn’t know what we didn’t know. There are some things that [other] people wouldn’t even think about, but for us we can just [say], ‘Yeah, why not?’ and challenge each other.”

Svedberg-Yen explained that she never really played video games before joining the project. Instead, she drew inspiration from TV series and books:

“I love science-fiction and fantasy epics which have massive, immersive worlds and vibrant societies, so I took a lot of that and put that into the backdrop of the game.”

Reflecting on her writing process, she said:

“I didn’t think of it as writing an RPG. I thought of it almost like writing an HBO drama.”

This perspective helped give Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 its distinctive storytelling style, blending cinematic depth with the interactivity of an RPG.