Author Says Studio Demanded He Stop Selling Graphic Novel Over Name

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was one of 2025’s most unexpected hits, and as developer Sandfall Interactive moves to build on that success, fantasy author Olivier Gay says he received a lawyer’s letter from the studio demanding he stop selling his comic book with a similar name.

L’Académie Clair-Obscur, released by Drakoo earlier this year, follows an academy of magicians and a peasant who joins their ranks after discovering his own powers. Gay says he’d had the idea since 2019 and signed a publishing deal under the title in 2024. Beyond the shared fantasy genre, the stories are different; the likely dispute centers on the title, since “Clair Obscur” simply means “light dark” in French and has appeared in other works and as a term for a painting style.

Gay wrote that he believes he is ultimately in the right creatively and legally but lacks the resources to defend himself in court, so he has decided to change the title of the recently printed graphic novel.

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