The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was one of the highest critically acclaimed release in 2025. Despite the numerous awards and acclaim as one of the best games of the year, it also has gained notoriety for something else – the inexperienced team.

Veteran developer Adrian Chmielarz (Gears of War, Bulletstorm, Witchfire, Painkiller, etc) followed the same logic as Steve Jobs. Jobs only used used ‘A’ people for the first Macintosh. He believed “…the old saying that ten professional soldiers are as effective as a hundred amateurs, or even a thousand, and that’s quite simply true. So when you have a small team, it’s really important that you have the best people.”

So imagine how he was thrown for a loop when he learned the team behind Clair Obscur was a ton of newbies – many of whom had never made a game before.

Perhaps lots of energy from a personal passion project, the desire to succeed, and not knowing what isn’t possible has higher value?