Paris (AFP)
On the model of the "Cesar" of cinema, the Academy of arts and techniques of video games, newly created to bring together professionals from the sector in France, is preparing to reward Monday evening in Paris the best creations of the studios during the first "Pegasus" ceremony.
Announced last year by the National Video Game Syndicate (SNJV), which is behind it, the ceremony will take place at the Théâtre de la Madeleine (Paris 8th) from 8:30 p.m. and should bring together nearly 500 people.
"The idea is to sublimate French creations and talents in video games, the culture of the 21st century," SNPTV general delegate Julien Villedieu told AFP.
The video game industry weighs more than 110 billion euros in annual turnover worldwide, according to the Idate think-tank, and France represents nearly 5 billion. One of the challenges of the evening is to give the studios, around 500 in France, the notoriety and recognition necessary to more easily access the support of investment funds.
The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Twitch streaming platform, and on two channels of the Webedia group: the webTV LeStream and ES1.tv, dedicated to competitions and distributed on boxes.
In total, 120 games were submitted to the vote of members of the Academy of video game arts and techniques, said Julien Villedieu. Their common point: to have been marketed in 2019 and mainly made in France, except for three categories rewarding foreign games.
- A history of epidemic -
The Academy had revealed in February the three games that gathered the most votes in the first round of a vote open to the 1,200 professional members of the Academy. The results were then "slightly weighted" according to the business lines (development, image and sound, design ...)
An involuntary nod to health news, one of the major titles of the past year, named in seven categories, is "A Plague Tale: Innocence" from Bordeaux studio Asobo (edited by Focus Home Interactive): the story of a sister and her younger brother who are trying to survive while an epidemic of black plague ravages the kingdom of France in 1349.
He will compete for the prize for the best video game alongside the WRC8 car rally simulation from the Kylotonn studio (Bigben) and the epic with supernatural accents of two brothers, chased by the police, forced to flee the United States to take refuge in Mexico: "Life Is Strange 2" by Dontnod Entertainment (Square Enix).
The ceremony should also reward the best indie video game, the best mobile game, a game rewarding a "strong social theme", the best story, sound or visual experience, and the best character or universe.
Two prizes must also recognize a personality, chosen by the steering committee of the Academy.
Finally, the best foreign video game will decide between three blockbusters: the shooter in a post-apocalyptic world Metro Exodus from the Ukrainian developer 4A Games (Koch Media), the battle-royale (last survivor) Apex Legends and the action game- adventure inspired by the Star Wars universe "Jedi: Fallen Order", two titles by the American Respawn Entertainment (Electronic Arts).
© 2020 AFP