Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is still setting records and catching eyes, but its latest milestone has nothing to do with the gameplay, visuals, or narrative—it's the music.
To everyone's surprise, the game's soundtrack has risen to the top of Billboard's Classical Albums and Classical Crossover Albums charts. Featuring Lorien Testard's score and Alice Duport-Percier's haunting vocals, the soundtrack has now become part of the elite group of game scores that have made their mark in mainstream culture.
It's currently sitting comfortably in Billboard's number one spot across two major categories and has also made it to #13 on the Official Soundtrack Album Chart and #31 on the Official Album Download Chart. The fact that it started in such a way makes this feat even more astonishing.
Testard wasn't scouted through big-name connections or music agents. The compositions were discovered by chance when they were shared on SoundCloud and a gaming forum, where Sandfall's director, Guillaume Broche, found them. That breakthrough ignited a collaboration that would ultimately define one of 2025's most admired titles.
The soundtrack, which dropped on April 24, 2025, is made up of 154 original pieces, clocking in at over eight hours of music. The album has racked up over 18 million streams since launch on top platforms like Spotify, with hits like "Lumière" rapidly winning over fans. The score blends melancholy and grandeur, with strings, piano, and vocals that still get to you, even outside the game.
But this isn't just a case of "great music for a game." The music is the game in many ways. It sets the emotional tone, from the quiet grief at the start to the intense choices between Maelle and Verso at the end. Some players have even reported returning to the soundtrack long after finishing the game, unable to shake the atmosphere it created.
Historically, only a few video game soundtracks have managed to cross into Billboard territory—Halo 4 and Cuphead among them. But Clair Obscur takes that legacy further by dominating not just one chart, but multiple categories, and doing so less than two weeks after launch.
Even political leaders have expressed admiration, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who lauded the game as a symbol of France's creative drive and ambition.
For a debut title from a relatively new studio, Expedition 33 has more than earned its place. If it wasn't already in the running for Game of the Year, it certainly is now.