Players in the video game sector in France no longer wish to be satisfied with the third place occupied by their industry on a continental scale. Their ambition is to move upmarket to conquer European leadership, an objective they intend to achieve in five years. On Wednesday, the main employers’ associations of the video game thus asked the public authorities to make it an “industrial priority”. Considering that the sector suffers from a “deficit of consideration”, the Union of Leisure Software Publishers (SELL) and the National Video Game Union (SNJV) have deployed a plea broken down into four major proposals to call for support ” explicit” from the public authorities.
A few weeks before the presidential election, the video game industry, attached to both the Ministry of Culture and that of the Economy, is asking for “a clear and reinforced lead” from Bercy, in particular through the creation of a Ministry of Digital “full exercise”. According to them, France is destined to become the most attractive country in the sector “at the global level” and must promote the emergence of training “accessible to all”. With 5.3 billion euros in turnover in 2020 (+11.3% in one year), video games are the leading creative and cultural industry in France, far ahead of cinema or music, according to a study. from SELL. Despite world-class champions like Ubisoft and the explosion (+92%) in the number of jobs over 10 years, France remains, however, outstripped in Europe by the United Kingdom and Germany.
“The video game industry has been growing steadily for decades and France has world-renowned talent and companies. However, without an ambitious plan, we risk being downgraded in the face of increased international competition”, judge Lévan Sardjevéladzé, president of the SNJV.
In a context of hyper-concentration of the video game market led by the behemoths of the sector, like the record acquisition of Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft for nearly 70 billion dollars, “there is a form of urgency so that the French video game is very attractive”, adds Nicolas Vignolles, general delegate of SELL. In addition, the unions are calling for the France 2030 investment plan of 30 billion euros over five years, announced by President Emmanuel Macron in October, to be used to develop the technologies of the future for the sector, like a “France Métavers” plan. “If we transpose” a little to the video game sector “the same recipes” which have made the success of “French Tech”, the ecosystem of young French digital shoots, “we can have a potential for jobs and growth gigantic”, underlines Nicolas Vignolles.
Sami Nemli With AFP / ECO Inspirations
