According to former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida, turn-based RPGs, particularly JRPGs, were so unpopular several years ago that he would tell indie developers to avoid using the term altogether in their marketing—even for a game like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Yoshida recalled giving the Clair Obscur developers this advice during a lecture at the Busan Indie Connect Festival 2026 (via Automaton). He was impressed by a demo he played a couple of years before the game was out, particularly its similarities to The Legend of Dragoon, a game he produced, but recommended the developers at Sandfall Interactive find alternative ways to describe its combat.
"It's incredibly well-made, but it would be better not to call it a turn-based RPG," he said. "That alone might cause players to overlook it."
Sandfall listened and started describing Clair Obscur's combat as "reactive turn-based battles" in its marketing. It's hard to tell if that actually had an impact on the breakout success of the game, but it probably did...
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