CGSociety CGNews
French officials announce game initiative to make a positive impact on game industry future.
Monday, 01 December 2008 by Barbara Robertson
Advertisement
Good news for entrepreneurial serious gamers. French officials are announcing an important initiative that could have a serious impact on some gamers’ future.
“The French government has chosen northern France as the region of excellence for serious games,” says Jean Menu, Digital Development Director for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Economic Development Department in Valenciennes (CCIV). That means start-up companies, existing company’s corporate divisions willing to locate in the Nord-Pas de Calais Region can receive government money and support.
“We want to fund 20 serious game prototypes in 2009,” Menu says. His department will spearhead the initiative’s “Regional Image Cluster” pilot program, which will be centered in Valenciennes.
The choice of Valenciennes is astute: The Chamber, a well-funded government agency, previously established the legendary animation school Supinfocom, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, and its younger sibling Supinfogame. In addition, the region has several design, technology, and art universities.
Menu anticipates the group will soon focus a third school on serious games – a Supinfoserious, if you will, as well as R&D labs and other institutions to help build a solid infrastructure for serious games companies. “We want to be the new face for the image industry,” he says, “for the internet, TV, cinema, games, and serious games.”
In fact, three serious games companies have already located in northern France, according to Sandra Faggioni, project manager for digital creation at the Valenciennes Area Chamber, thanks to help from the Chambers in Valenciennes and nearby Lille. Two of the three exhibited at the first e.virtuoses and e.createurs symposiums and job fairs held in late November in Lille. Idées-3Com’s e-learning and online marketing applications, created with its proprietary software, include those for the Kiloutou delivery service and Victoria Couture stores. 3D duo creates advergames using a proprietary VRML-based engine. A third serious games company, CCCP, which the Valenciennes Chamber is “incubating” in its digital workshop facilities, has created applications dedicated to well-being and relaxation.
Menu defines serious games as those developed for a client rather than consumers and he includes such categories as advertising and marketing, education and training, and simulation within the serious games umbrella. Currently, he is most interested in proposals having to do with transportation, health and civic law. Companies with interesting ideas can receive 30,000 Euros to develop a prototype followed by 150,000 Euros for stage two.
The Chamber welcomes proposals from countries outside France and can provide support in the form of high-tech office space with reduced rent, tax incentives, help with legal issues, and so forth. In return, they ask companies to spend at least half their profits in Northern France, the rest of their profits in Europe, and that they provide jobs.
“The aim is to create employment in this country,” Menu says. “We want to create thousands of jobs.”
