Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Devs Say Unreal Engine 5 Made Switch 2 Port Hard

Sandfall Interactive is revealing how its small team built the visually dense RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 using Unreal Engine 5. This matters because it shows how modern tools let indie developers create AAA-quality worlds without massive staffs. The studio credits specific engine features for making this scale possible.

Small studio leverages visual scripting to build AAA visuals while monitoring engine updates for handheld compatibility

The game relies heavily on Unreal Engine 5’s MetaHuman, Nanite, and Lumen technologies to render its detailed environments and characters. CEO Guillaume Broche emphasized that the engine provides all necessary tools to create a large-scale experience. This approach allows the studio to maintain high visual fidelity despite limited resources.

Blueprints serve as the core visual scripting method that enables non-programmers to write game logic. Broche noted that this system allows almost any team member to contribute to the codebase easily. The studio considers this accessibility crucial for their development workflow and team structure.

Porting the game to the Nintendo Switch 2 presents a significant technical hurdle due to the console's lower power compared to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Co-founder and CTO Tom Guillermin stated that achieving beauty on the Switch 2 is a major challenge for their small studio. The team is currently monitoring Unreal Engine updates, specifically Lumen Lite, to see if it enables a viable handheld port.