Update []:
Sandfall Interactive has now withdrawn all legal action against an unrelated comic book named L’Academie Clair-Obscur.
Earlier this week, a small creator named Olivier Gay conceded he may have to change the name of his material after receiving threatening action from the maker of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
He proved that the comic book was conceived in 2019 and was picked up by a publisher in 2024, pre-dating the success of the French dev’s hit PS5 RPG.
But it seems like legal representatives were far too fast on the trigger, and mistook the unrelated comic book as infringement of its intellectual property.
In a statement on social media, machine translated from French, a representative for the studio said:
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“Sandfall was working to withdraw the requests from our legal representative, which has now been done. Their role is to protect us in particular against counterfeit products, but the action initiated toward the comic book L’Academie Clair-Obscur published in January 2026 does not align with us.”
The studio continued that it “supports artists” and “encourages creativity”, adding that it wishes luck to Gay with his comic book.
Presumably, this whole ordeal will probably help elevate the book’s sales, which is a good thing.
We’re pleased to see Sandfall Interactive respond quickly to this, and we do understand it needed time to collect the facts and reverse the decision before it communicated with fans.
It sounds like, ultimately, this was just a mix-up. All’s well that ends well, then.
Original Story: A comic book about a peasant who enrols at a magical school may be forced to change its name, following legal action from Sandfall Interactive.
Olivier Gay’s L’Academie Clair-Obscur released earlier this year, after being conceived in 2019 and picked up by a publisher in 2024.
But legal representatives for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 believe it is infringing on the award-winning RPG’s copyright, and is trying to piggyback off its success.
After intense criticism from fans, the firm has now commented on the situation.
Its statement, machine translated from French, reads:
“Hello everyone, we've seen the discussions, thank you for bringing the situation to our attention. We're in contact with the publisher and Olivier to find a fair solution for everyone.”
In a series of viral X (or Twitter) posts, Gay describes how he conceived the comic years ago, and jokes he may have been able to sue in the opposite direction had his book been released earlier.
Ultimately he concedes that he doesn’t have the financial muscle or the willpower to fight Sandfall Interactive, and says he will rebrand the comic book if necessary to avoid a legal fight.
Now it seems the dev is actively searching for a solution, and Gay seems optimistic about a positive outcome.
He wrote, as machine translated from French:
"For those who wanted to know the continuation of this story, the founders of the studio contacted me directly, and I hope we’ll find a solution that works for everyone!"
We know situations like this are difficult, because obviously Sandfall Interactive needs to protect its intellectual property.
But it’s clear L’Academie Clair-Obscur is completely unrelated, and any similarities are coincidental.
Gay concludes that it’s frustrating to see this situation transpire, because he earned the Platinum Trophy in the game and has deep respect for what it achieved.