The Paris Games Week, France's major gaming event, opens its doors on Wednesday at a time of crisis for the industry which is marked by layoffs and restructuring.
After enjoying a surge during the COVID years, the video game sector has faced declining investments and fierce competition over the past two years, despite overall sales holding steady.
Since the beginning of 2024, over 13,000 employees worldwide have lost their jobs, according to Game Industry Layoffs.
"The industry has a bit of a hangover," says Charles-Louis Planade, an analyst at Midcap Partners, noting a retreat by many publishers to focus on their most popular franchises.
New releases are struggling to compete with juggernauts like "Fortnite" and "GTA V Online."
While the French market saw a rebound in 2023, surpassing six billion euros in revenue, the challenges remain.
Gaming giant Ubisoft has faced underwhelming releases and postponed the much-anticipated "Assassin's Creed Shadows" to February.
Also, a strike mobilised a quarter of its 4,000 employees in France on Tuesday, according to union reports.
France's Ubisoft faces three day strike as unions protest over remote work decision
Meanwhile, the studio Don’t Nod announced plans to lay off 69 employees - over 20 percent of its workforce - as part of a reorganisation effort.
In contrast, publisher Focus (part of Pullup Entertainment) reported record revenue for its second quarter, driven by the success of "Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2," with 4.5 million players.
Manga, cosplay, e-sports
"This event will be a platform for discussing the realities of the industry," says Nicolas Vignolles, general delegate of the Leisure Software Publishers' Syndicate (Sell), which organises the Paris Games Week.
"But our primary goal is to celebrate video games," he adds, emphasizing a growing festival-like atmosphere which will tak eplace until 27 October.
While the core of the event remains access to the latest releases, this year’s edition is expanding further into pop culture, featuring more space dedicated to manga, cosplay, and e-sports.
Attendees will even find a Tesla Cybertruck on display in one of the three halls.
"We embrace this theme park aspect," says Vignolles, who anticipates welcoming up to 200,000 visitors, promising the "most ambitious edition" since the pandemic.
(with AFP)
