Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's art director jokes how he wanted to make a 'realistic version of SpongeBob'

Nicholas Maxson-Francombe previously did concept art for stage shows – “like a Cirque du Soleil kind of vibe”, he says – and his role as art director on Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 marks his first job in the games industry.

Working on his first video game has been a learning curve, as he admits. “I’d never really, you know, placed elements, or made a set dressing for a level, or actually placed assets in a game, so that was definitely a bit of a chaotic moment.” But he really appreciates the huge amount of creative freedom he’s allowed on games, and on this project in particular, which has already garnered plenty of attention for its intriguing design.

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Lewis Packwood
Video games journalist

Lewis Packwood has been writing about video games professionally since 2013, and his work has appeared in The Guardian, Retro Gamer, EDGE, Eurogamer, Wireframe, Rock Paper Shotgun, Kotaku, PC Gamer and Time Extension, among others. He is also the author of Curious Video Game Machines: A Compendium of Rare and Unusual Consoles, Computers and Coin-Ops (White Owl, 2023).

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