“Producing European video games is also our mission at ARTE” [INTERVIEW]

During the Paris Games Week 2024 trade show, the Franco-German channel ARTE was kind enough to answer some of our questions about its activities as a publisher and co-producer of video games.

The ARTE channel regularly supports French creations, particularly video game productions. Three independent studios supported by ARTE were present at the Paris Games Week 2024 show to present their new productions. The ideal opportunity to discover unusual games, but also to talk to ARTE France about the publishing and co-production of French video games.

We were able to talk at the official ARTE stand with Diana Stoïca, publishing project manager for ARTE France and responsible for presenting several games co-produced and published by the channel.

What is ARTE's role in video games in France? ?

At ARTE France, we have been co-producing and publishing video games from independent studios for 11 years now. on a European scale.

It is important for us, as a member of the public service, to support creation in all its forms. We have opened up to video games and immersive experiences globally, on a national and European scale, because it is part of the culture today. It is not an obligation for us to carry out projects in video games in France, but it is part of our missions dedicated to culture.

"It is important for us to support creation in all its forms"

What are ARTE France's actions at the Paris Games Week show ?

We are present as a publisher to represent the projects we are currently working on. We present three games "30 Birds", "Looking for Fael" and "Gloomy Eyes". It is not always possible for studios, especially independent ones, to travel to trade shows and events. Some were able to come at the beginning of the show, but it is part of our mission to be present at this type of very public event. This allows us to give very good exposure to the games we are working on and to reveal some playable demos to visitors.

By involving visitors, we allow them to already discover the games presented through the demos and to make more people interested in these projects.

30 Birds is a game presented and co-produced by ARTE France. © ARTE

It is often said that ARTE is the channel that offers original programs, is this something that we find in the production of video games ?

Yes! It is very important for us to make this activity of the channel known and the video game as a cultural object in its own right. It also allows us to highlight projects that would not be as visible without our support. We use ARTE's stature and notoriety to promote lots of original projects that deserve to be of interest and played. Memorable projects that are more commonly called “author games” and that need as much visibility as big AAA games.

The games co-produced and published by ARTE seem to be far removed from big productions like “Call of Duty” or “Assassin's Creed“. It's one thing to which you care about ?

We care about it a lot indeed. Most of the time, these are small studios and teams that we want to support in their projects. We generally help games that have a certain artistic touch, whether in design or gameplay. These games convey original ideas.

It is essential for us to have memorable and different games. Our catalog of independent games is growing year by year, but there is no real secret to standing out. For us, it is important that our projects have heart. Not necessarily that they carry a message or are committed, but rather that they reflect our personality.

“We use Arte's stature and notoriety to promote lots of original projects”

For our readers who have never touched a game produced by ARTE, which one would you recommend ?

One of the most successful is “Vectronom”(released in 2019). It works very well because it is accessible and really addictive. It is a rhythm game where the platforms appear and disappear depending on the music played. It is therefore very simple to easy to get started with and the music is very nice and original too.

I can also only recommend the next game we are working on. It is called "30 BIRDS"and it is an adventure game that takes place on lanterns that rotate on themselves, creating a mix of 2D and 3D. This game has a sublime artistic direction and is inspired by Persian miniatures. A really funny game, but also very addictive.

How does the channel go about selecting the games it will support? ?

We do a lot of events like Paris Games Week. At trade shows or to the general public, we often receive requests for projects directly at these shows. We then meet as a team to study the projects and work on the ones we have selected.

We then make decisions internally and especially as a team. At ARTE France, there is not a single person who is the decision-maker, but a group of professionals who will work together on the project presented.

So if tomorrow, if I have a video game to propose to ARTE, how can I go about it exactly ?

You can submit projects to us at trade fairs with presentations and books in a completely traditional way, and then go through our online platform on the arte.tv site which hosts many initiatives, whether in video games or other fields.

We prefer to receive nascent projects and therefore evaluate prototypes and game ideas rather than productions that are already almost finished.