Expedition 33 has made French cuss -words popular

There are so many things you can learn from video games. Over the years, games have taught us about history, socio-political issues and even how to fly. Assassin's Creed Origins even had an entire teaching tool for ancient Egypt. Language is another thing that games can teach us, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 gives us French classes.

Family

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is proof that more big games should embrace their developers home

Clair Obscur is a French game made of a French team, and that dynamics are too rare.

The game's post apocalyptic depiction of Paris is beautiful because it is scary, and the French influence permeates throughout the game. The characters' names and even some words are obviously French. But it seems that a cuss word is really stuck with fans of the game. You guessed it – Pustain.

Cair obscur game all a new favorite cuss -word

The word “pustain” is a derogatory way to call someone a prostitute. Although we do not hear it much in Lumiere, we hear it a lot from the expedition members when they fight against Nevrons on the continent. It seems that the word has become quite popular after the launch of the game. I don't just mean like a meme, people actually look for it.

According to Google Trends, the number of searches for the word “Pustain” has increased significantly after the launch of Clair Obscur. As you can see in the diagram below, the interest goes over the time of the word on an upbow just around the date the game was launched – April 24. It starts to rise between April 20 and 26 and tops somewhere between April 27 and May 3. It seems that the word is becoming more popular thanks to the game.

But if you think this is some kind of freak -sum case or is not convinced that it is because of the game, there is more evidence. The related subjects and related questions have the name of the game in itself. It is quite crucial that Clair Obscure is the cause of the word's increase in popularity.

While we are all throwing around our new favorite cuss word, it seems that the English voice crew was tough with it. Gustave and Maell actors Ben Starr and Jennifer English admitted that they continued to stumble up over the pronunciation of French words and names. English even resembled that with the stage in friends where Phoebe tries to teach Joey French.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Published

April 24 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // blood and gore, strong language, suggestive themes, violence

Developer

Sandfall interactive

Publisher

Kepler interactive

Engine

Unreal Engine 5

• 
•