Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has already been cleaning up during the early part of Awards season, and now it has another accolade to add to its trophy shelf. Xbox has announced that the Sandfall Interactive-developed RPG is the biggest third-party game launch for 2025.
Xbox announced the impressive stat in a detailed Xbox Wire post, which highlighted that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 had the most unique users of any third-party game during its first 30 days of availability on Xbox Game Pass. Like many of Game Pass’s most appealing titles, Clair Obscur was a Day 1 Game Pass game across both Xbox and PC on April 24th. Still, only one Game Pass launch title can claim the crown of the biggest third party game on the service.
Xbox and Clair Obscur Have Been Partners Since Last Year
Xbox has been along for the ride since 2024, when it debuted an early look at Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 during a Developer Direct. It’s there that most first saw Clair Obscur and were struck by the visual style and the timing-based approach to traditional RPG combat. Now, a year later, that investment in Clair Obscur’s promotion has paid off for Xbox as well, assuming that Expedition 33’s Day 1 launch on the service helped increase subscriber numbers.
While Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has clearly resonated with critics, this latest accolade from Xbox points out how popular the title was with gamers as well. Obviously, those early positive reviews helped create curiosity, and Game Pass allows subscribers to indulge that curiosity with minimal friction, but being the biggest third party title on a service with as diverse of a selection as Xbox Game Pass is impressive.
The relationship is symbiotic as well. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 being on Game Pass also presumably benefited the game’s reach and notoriety. With more people choosing to check out the game because of Game Pass and then sharing their enjoyment of it, the word of mouth helps Sandfall’s title grow bigger and bigger. As one of the highest reviewed games of 2025, there’s no question that Clair Obscur would have found an audience on its own, but Game Pass certainly helped give it a boost, and a major one at that.
What is the Biggest Xbox Game Pass Title of 2025?
It’s important to point out that Xbox is only labeling Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as the biggest third-party launch on Xbox Game Pass and not necessarily the biggest launch overall. That could mean that a separate call-out is on the way for the Xbox first-party title that is the biggest game on Game Pass, which also could be the biggest game on the service overall.
With a strong slate of 2025 games to choose from, there are a few first-party games that seem likely for Xbox’s biggest first-party game. Avowed kicked off the year strong and garnered positive reviews. Doom: The Dark Ages took the Doomslayer to a medieval setting and set him loose. And The Outer Worlds 2 served as the one-two, RPG punch for Obsidian Entertainment.
However, it seems most likely that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is the biggest first-party Game Pass launch, if not the service’s biggest launch of the year. While Call of Duty’s sales are reportedly lower compared to past years, Black Ops 7 topped active players’ lists on both Xbox and PlayStation. Presumably, a large portion of Black Ops 7’s player base opted to try out the game over Game Pass, which could help the game secure the title of biggest Game Pass release of 2025. We will have to wait and see.
For Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, it seems like the industry-wide nation recognition tour is only getting started. Following the game’s dominance at the Golden Joystick Awards and now this hat tip from Xbox, Clair Obscur is poised to pick up some hardware at The Game Awards next week and beyond.
