A relief in a gloomy context. Invited to BFM Business, Fabrice Larue, general director of the French video game publisher PulluP (formerly Focus), can boast of a true triumph with his latest game. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines 2 – developed by the American studio Saber – It is a real success.
Result: 234 million turnover in the quarter. “This represents more than the entire turnover of last year, with an increase of 176%.”
But this success somewhat hides the difficulties of the global video game sector, when Paris Games Week opens its doors this Wednesday.
Too much money?
In this $188 billion market, there are many concerns. In France, it is the Ubisoft situation that is worrying, both for reasons related to the group and the Covid reaction.
“A lot of money was invested in the video game sector,” he continues. “Too much, because there have been many hirings, salary inflation, delays in game deliveries due to teleworking and absenteeism and due to the lack of components on a certain number of platforms.”
“And then a market correction, especially with the increase in fees, which means that many games, many studios have suffered since 2023,” he specifies. If PulluP benefits from cardboard space marine 2, Other publishers are struggling, like Don’t Nod, forced into a voluntary exit plan.
Consolidation of the sector
“It is true that there is a consolidation of the sector and a rationalization of costs,” analyzes Fabrice Larue, who advocates for “European champions” against the American giants (Microsoft…), Japanese (Sony…) and obviously Chinese. (Tencent…).
And given the ups and downs of the market, the future depends, above all, on success. “We are going to install live music with recurring and predictable income,” explains Fabrice Larue about Space Sailor 2. In short, additional and paid content instead of putting too many expectations and risks in new games.
Source: BFM TV
