Chicago - The video game sector in France is experiencing robust growth. In 2007, the size of the French video game market grew to EUR 2 billion, an increase of 10 percent compared with the previous year.
Three French publishers already figure among the world's top 15 leading publishers of video games: Vivendi Universal Games, UbiSoft, and Atari/Infogrames, as well as two of the primary producers of mobile phone games, Gameloft and Zenops. Roughly 60 independent studios (Darkworks, WideScreen Games, Hydravision, Quantic Dreams, Monte Cristo, etc.) make their talents and technical skills available to producers all over the world.
Foreign companies attracted by this sector include U.S. company Electronic Arts, which has based its French subsidiary in Lyon and employs 60 people.
Studios and producers from the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea have chosen France as their launch pad for the European market: Codemasters, Koei
France, Konami France, Namco Bandai, NCSoft, Freeze Interactive, and Gravity.
3D applications also benefit. French software company Catia, owned by Dassault Systèmes, a leader in computer-assisted design (CAD), and created an entirely virtual platform of the new Dassault Falcon 7X plane. Within the automobile industry, Peugeot Citroën SA created CAVE, an innovative 3D immersion system. Danish company ESoft Systems, specializing in advanced visualization (360-degree effect) of properties on real estate Internet sites, recently chose France to open its first international office.
Clusters are preparing for the future by giving strong support to research and education in this sector, as seen with Cap Digital in the Ile-de-France and Imaginove in Rhône-Alpes, and in IT and communications centers.
This information comes from the Invest in France Agency (IFA), which promotes and facilitates international investment in France. The IFA network operates worldwide. IFA works in partnership with regional development agencies to offer international investors business opportunities and customized services all over France.
For more information, visit www.investinfrance.org.