A coalition of seven independent studios to create a “participatory” and “unique” management model in the video game industry: this is the ambition of the publisher Kepler Interactive to guarantee creative freedom and the production of “original creations”, such as the game “Tchia “, inspired by New Caledonia.
a new model
A44 in New Zealand, Alpha Channel, Awaceb and Timberline in North America, Ebb Software and Sloclap in Europe or even Shapefarm in Asia… With its constellation of partner studios and 300 total employees spread across three continents, Kepler Interactive is already a company video game multinational.
Specifically, Kepler Interactive owns a majority stake in each of the seven founding studios, notably through a share exchange. Thus, each studio, also a shareholder of the publisher according to its value, participates in making strategic decisions, while preserving its creative independence.
“Every week, the founders of Kepler and the studios that are part of it meet and we discuss strategy, studios that potentially want to join us and other important decisions,” adds the French leader, who has notably worked for Ubisoft.
Sifu, one of Kepler’s early games
“If there’s even a studio founder saying, ‘I don’t feel like that, I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ obviously arguing his decision, we’ll seriously listen to him, discuss it, and generally, he won’t do it.” happen”, adds Pierre de Margerie, president of Sloclap, one of the studies of the Kepler galaxy.
And works? With fundraising of $120 million in 2021, led by Chinese gaming and internet services giant NetEase, London-based Kepler announced $50 million in 2022 turnover, in its first full year of operations since its launch.
sifuone of the first games with the Kepler label, it has already exceeded 2 million copies sold worldwide before its arrival on Steam and Xbox.
Latest release, from the end of March: chiaan open world adventure available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, in a universe inspired by New Caledonia, where the characters speak French and Drehu, one of the Kanak vernaculars.
Technical support
Far from having a “AAA” budget, unlike the “blockbusters” produced by industry giants like obligations (Activision-Blizzard) or Grand Theft Auto (Take two), chia and his studio Awaceb were nevertheless able to benefit from the help and collaboration of their partners to develop this “niche” game with a “universal vocation”.
Being inside Kepler, “this allows for mutual assistance from a technical point of view” when the skills are not provided internally, Phil Crifo stresses. Sloclap, for example, sent a visual rendering engineer to Awaceb “for several months” to work on chia.
Another “perk” of joining Kepler, according to Phil Crifo: no longer having the “pressure of having to convince people to get project funding.” “Not having this sword of Damocles anymore is really comfortable,” savors the Awaceb co-founder.
Source: BFM TV
