After three years of absence, Paris Games Week returns to celebrate French video games

This is the year that everything begins again. This November 2, SELL, the Leisure Software Publishers Union, relaunches the Parisian event for the first time since 2019 and after two lost editions due to the pandemic. Including the one that should have made it possible to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the great French video game gathering in 2020.

Therefore, the edit is called Restart (“Restarting”) to once again highlight video games and French know-how. Compared to previous editions, the PGW has been significantly reduced to occupy only 48,000 m² of Hall 1. In this way, the number of visitors has been limited. The record of 317,00 visitors in 2019 will not be surpassed for health reasons in particular. But that won’t stop the party from taking place, SELL assures us.

Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo present

A total of 117 exhibitors are announced, including all manufacturers, major video game publishers and developers, as well as add-on manufacturers and associations. “We are the first video game fair that has Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo present for its recovery. Neither Gamescom nor Tokyo Game Show had this privilege”, says Nicolas Vignolles, general delegate of SELL. “And there are also Ubisoft, Bandai Namco or even Capcom and Plaion who are there, French nuggets and everything that makes the strength of the French video game scene.”

But not everyone will have the same presence at the PGW. If Ubisoft, Bandai Namco, Plaion, Xbox and Nintendo will have real booths, PlayStation will find itself at the Fnac-Darty booth in the company of Square Enix in particular. Other publishers have chosen thematic groupings such as the Games Made in France space. No fewer than 32 French video gamers responded with gaming terminals, round tables, contests, tournaments and even meetings around video game training and employment.

Do not miss little pearls like the masterful A Plague Tale: Requiem ofAsobo Studio (also in the 900 m² Xbox booth), the delicate and nostalgic Dordognethe strangerto hell with the ugly (La Poule Noire/Arte Games) adapted from a novel by Boris Vian, or the next episode of Siberia: the world beforea saga that celebrates its 20th anniversary.

The PGW will allow players to discover and try upcoming new features such as sonic frontiers (Plaion)Penance, lies of p (xbox), Beyond the park, one piece odyssey (Bandai Namco) or the latest releases like Splatoon 3 (Nintendo), Mario+Raving Rabbids: sparks of hope Y just dance 2023 to be discovered exclusively at the Ubisoft booth. The French publisher also promises an unprecedented virtual experience to celebrate 15 years ofAssassin’s Creed. A retrogaming space for the most nostalgic can be found in the MO5 association.

An appointment to learn, train and calm down

But the show is also oriented towards education and prevention with highlights planned for the Junior area of ​​the Paris Games Week, dedicated to the discovery of the youngest with, in particular, the PowerZ experience that helps them learn French. , mathematics or languages ​​while playing (from 6 years). ancient).

The Asociation PédaGoGames it is there to educate children and parents about safety and the right things to do. The PGW will also organize conferences with the CapGame and Women in Games associations around the place of women in video games, inclusion and accessibility, an increasingly prevalent theme.

The show did not skimp on resources and neither did its exhibitors. Numerous stands will be set up to facilitate access for players in wheelchairs. Gaming terminals will also be equipped with adaptive joysticks, and at Xbox and Ubisoft, sign language translators will be available.

Esports fans are not forgotten with a large stage (2,000 m² and 800 seats) where competitions around the games will take place throughout the week. League of Legends, Valorant, Street Fighters 6,… and even a Seniors Trophy on Thursday morning. More and more people are playing and now they have their own competition in this great gaming event.