Two million copies sold in 12 days: an incredible achievement for “Clair Obscur: Expédition 33”, the video game launched by Montpellier studio Sandfall Interactive on April 24. This game is so successful that French President Emmanuel Macron even congratulated its creators on Instagram: “You are showcasing French boldness and creativity. That’s right, because the video game studio that created it, Sandfall Interactive, is independent and French.”
Founded in 2020 and assisted by Montpellier BIC, Sandfall Interactive is a graduate of the second cohort of Montpellier Game Lab, the Occitanie Video Game Incubator set up by Montpellier Métropole and the Push Start association. “The release of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 represents a major milestone for the French video game industry worldwide. This exceptional game, developed in Montpellier by Sandfall Interactive, a studio assisted by Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, symbolizes the creative excellence of our territory,” commented Fanny Dombre Coste, parliamentary deputy for the 3rd constituency of Hérault and municipal councilor of Montpellier, on her Facebook page.
Two of Sandfall Interactive’s founders, Guillaume Broche and Tom Guillermin, are former employees of Ubisoft, whose studio in Montpellier was particularly successful at the 6th edition of the Pégases Awards, the equivalent of the César Awards for video games, held on March 6 in Paris. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, the game developed by Ubisoft, was chosen by the jury as Best Video Game of 2025. The game also distinguished itself by winning the Pégases award for Best Game Design, Best Soundscape, and Best Accessibility!
Ubisoft Montpellier is not the only Montpellier-based studio to stand out at this year’s Pégases awards: Caravan SandWitch, a game developed by Plane Toast studios and published by Plug In Digital in Montpellier (which acquired the Spanish studio PixelRatio), won the Pégases award for Best First Video Game and Best Independent Video Game. Loop Hero, developed by Four Quarters and distributed by Devolver and Playdigious in Montpellier, received the Pégases award for Best Foreign Mobile Video Game.
Studios in the Montpellier Métropole area are bursting with talent. Following “Lost in Harmony”, “11-11: Memories Retold”, and “Road 96”, which won five Pégases awards at the March 2022 ceremony, including the award for narrative excellence, DigixArt, the studio a Montpellier studio by Anne-Laure and Yoan Fanise, just confirmed its influence in the world of video games with the announcement of Tides of Tomorrow, an adventure game set on Elynd, an ocean planet threatened by a mysterious disease. The game implements an innovative asynchronous system.
After joining Plaion (formerly Koch Media), a world-renowned German video game publisher, in mid-2021, bringing it international visibility and creative independence, Digixart celebrated its 10th anniversary on May 20 in Montpellier to thank everyone who has contributed to the studio’s success.
Meanwhile, The Game Bakers has set out to conquer the West! The Montpellier-based studio has been selected as one of five French winners of the Game Changer call for projects, a program dedicated entirely to video games, organized by Villa Albertine in the United States in partnership with the Occitanie Region and Institut Français.
From March 11 to 19, the studio met with publishers and producers, visited studios, and shared best practices. Its teams made a stop in Los Angeles before heading to San Francisco to participate in the Game Developers Conference, the world’s largest video game trade show, bringing together approximately 30,000 professionals.
The Game Bakers is getting ready to release its next title in 2025: Cairn, a unique mountaineering experience focused on the quest for freedom. This new title from The Game Bakers is eagerly awaited by gamers. Cairn’s innovative climbing gameplay has already been enthusiastically received by hundreds of thousands of players thanks to its playable demo. In addition, the game’s visual style was created by French comic book artist Mathieu Bablet.
Supamonks is also headed across the Atlantic: Absolum, a game developed with Dotemu and Guard Crush Games was officially selected in the video game program for the Tribeca festival, held in New York on June 4-5. In addition, the series Les Métiers was released on France Télévisions’ Okoo platform after two years of work. Created in part by the Supamonks team in Montpellier, the series is aimed at young audiences and presents the professions of today and tomorrow in a fun and educational way.
For its part, Nextale Games (formerly Smart Tale Games) announced its first in-house project in April: Calame, a narrative tactical role-playing game (RPG) whose trailer is currently in production. “We have undertaken a strategic transition to broaden our sphere of activity and develop our own creative identity. With our first in-house game, we are taking a significant step towards greater independence and innovation,” the studio writes on its LinkedIn page.
As well as being talented, the video game studios in the Montpellier Métropole area are also strengthening their position. One example is Virtuos, which opened its new facility on April 11, also in the Millénaire district. Its goal is to reach around 100 employees within three years.
At the same time, Nacon is creating a technical hub for video games in Montpellier. The new site, called Nacon Tech, will primarily provide software development and motion capture services to the group’s 16 video game studios, as well as to other clients, including game studios, animation studios, film studios, and advertising agencies.
The technical hub leverages two complementary facilities: a platform combining the software development and engineering studio located in Montpellier’s Cambacérès business district, and a motion capture studio located at Aube-Rouge in nearby Castelnau-le-Lez.
This project follows the acquisition of Montpellier-based studio Midgar in 2022. Nacon Tech is headed by Jérémy Zeler-Maury, founder of Midgar Studio. He is now Nacon’s Chief Technology Officer, supported by Valérie de Palma, Director of the motion capture studio.
The hub now has more than 50 employees, and the team is expected to continue growing to support the division’s expansion. The first major announcement to arise from this dynamic was Midgar Studio’s unveiling of its new game, Edge of Memories, which will be available on all platforms.
These are some of the latest developments from video game studios in the area, a particularly creative and innovative ecosystem that keeps on making history with the wholehearted support of Montpellier Métropole. For example, in partnership with La French Touch, Bpifrance, V STUDIOS, and France Télévisions, Montpellier Métropole organized the year’s first CCI Club event focusing on funding challenges in the sector, and actively prepared for the 4th cohort of the Montpellier Game Lab: the program’s end-of-session pitches were presented on May 7 at the Halle de l’Innovation facility.
First CCI Club event in 2025, focusing on funding challenges in the sector (@3M)
