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Video games have become one of the most active and important markets in the cultural industries over the last few years.

French video games now face four major challenges:

Technological Leadership
Every two years, video games experience radical changes in their hardware and software technology. In R&D, the industry is at the top of many programming fields including artificial intelligence, real-time 3D image management, the management of hundreds of thousands of connected players, etc. Technological leadership, or at least having a notable lead, is usually enough to facilitate having a dominant market position. It is vital for video game companies to be well positioned in the worldwide technological competition.

Worldwide Cultural Production
Before all else, making a video game requires coming up with a story and an interactivity that will engage a very diverse public around the world. More and more games are being developed for a worldwide market, much like American films. Video games constitute an important branch of the great cultural exchanges (construction/destruction).

Internet
Internet revolutionizes both the use and distribution of video games. An entirely new branch has appeared with persistent worlds or massively multiplayer online videogames, and they are thriving. Several million of players spread around the planet are connected in real-time 3D games and have subscriptions to fully enjoy the gaming experience.

Industrial and Financial Concentration
The less than 25-year old video game industry is still young. Now in full expansion after several structural crises, in the early ‘80s and mid ‘90s, the major players in the market carry-out buy-outs and fusions that concentrate the whole (Namco-Bandaï in 2005). For many analysts, this movement is far from over and could eventually entail alliances between communication powerhouses and video game industry leaders.

Community Contact:

François Hanat – francois.hanat@capdigital.com – 00 33 (0)1 40 41 11 89