Regional Association of the National Video Game Union, the Bouftang Collective led, in partnership with the Western Territory and Canal Box Réunion, the first local study on this sector of activity which is currently in a nebulous state. By providing an exhaustive overview, it takes stock of its issues and the main actions that would make it possible to structure and develop it.
Sept studios (or similar) and 66 independents constitute the heart of the local ecosystem of video game and animated film producers. Mainly concentrated in the north and west of the island, the sector has many young graduates, but also confirmed experts. Faced with the difficulties of finding local outlets, a third of professionals plan to leave the territory. However, almost all (97 %) think that the sector will develop in Reunion in the coming years. Since 2006, year of the release of the first video game developed in Reunion, Dark & Light, by NP Cube, more than 140 video games have been produced and marketed in the territory, all platforms combined. Many of these games were designed during the golden age of smartphones by Darie Productions. Emblematic figure of the video game landscape, Lionel Daria, as a true ambassador of Creole culture, proved that it was possible to create video games with local specificities that could reach millions of players internationally and thus contribute to the emergence of a local economic sector.
An activity to be structured
The Western Territory aims to create favorable conditions for the development of ecosystems such as video games. “This is a major development issue”, judge Emmanuel Séraphin, president of the EPCI, noting that at the national level “this industry represents around five billion euros, with a significant concentration in Paris and secondary centers in Lyon, Bordeaux, Lille and Montpellier”. The Western Territory plans to create a Western innovation center within the future Ecocity to “bring together innovation and research players on future topics, like the tropical building, energy, digital and image, including 3D and therefore video games too”. Recognized internationally for his productions produced partly in Reunion Island (Adama, Zombillénium, The Smurfs, My Afghan Family, Sirocco, The little Nicolas…), the production company Gao Shan Pictures has, with Western Territory, was recently the winner of the France 2030 call for expressions of interest “Territorial clusters of cultural and creative industries” to create this artistic production hub dedicated to cinema companies, video game, digital creation and live performance.
The identified areas of action
At the top of the essential actions that would allow the Reunion sector to develop, the creation of a hub of cultural and creative industries in the Indian Ocean : space promoting collaboration, and skill development, this hub would bring together the different players in the ecosystem and become a center of attractiveness in the region. The emergence of a star video game studio would be an asset for promoting Reunion video games and its players on the markets., starting with the Reunion market. The development of educational tools, training or others via serious games intended for professional circles and institutions would offer another outlet for local skills. In addition to public aid, mainly from the Region on the basis of the ERDF, the creation of a specific private fund would provide financing leverage for more ambitious projects. The creation of a video game publishing structure would usefully complete the system by facilitating the distribution of products. Finally, increasing skills through continuing training for Reunion professionals will remain the sine qua non condition for adaptation to technological developments, market trends and competition.
DIAGNOSIS OF STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
With the ILOI, and soon the Rubika school, video games have a quality training offer and experienced professionals in Reunion, but there is a lack of outlets, lack of means, to enable these skills to realize their potential.
The Indian Ocean Image Institute (EXCELLENCE) was created in 1995. More than 100 young people are trained each year in video game careers, and several thousand others were in related professions such as computing and computer graphics. Rubika is a private metropolitan higher education school specializing in video game careers, 2D/3D animation and industrial design. It will complement the sector’s training offering in the region from 2024. Nevertheless, their diploma in hand, the vast majority of students on Reunion Island struggle to find work locally and must leave the island or reorient themselves. In a city, more than 50% of students find a job in video games the year following the end of their studies, according to the National Video Game Union (SNJV). Creators and the few local video game studios struggle to develop due to lack of sufficient resources. Lack of financial capacity and local support, they cannot recruit a team, nor produce games of an international dimension.
AN INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY
In majority, these independents earn less than 6,000 euros per year. Only a third earns more than 18,000 euros : they have other activities and sources of income. Only 7% of companies generate more than 120,000 euros in annual turnover.
