Call for Applications: Game Changer

From March 11 to 19, 2025, Game Changer will welcome representatives from five French studios selected by a French American expert jury to participate in a 10-day learning expedition to Los Angeles and San Francisco to meet key industry players and learn from experts on technical, creative, marketing, and social topics. The studio representatives will have an accreditation pass to participate in the Game Developer Conference (March 17-19), the game industry’s premier professional event that takes place annually in San Francisco.

“California Dreaming” 

The United States is the world’s leading video game market in terms of value, and a key market for French video games. Video games have established themselves as a fully recognized artistic discipline and have been represented in Villa Albertine’s residency program since its launch in 2021 (Tatiana Villa Dos Santos, Accidental Queens, Digital Playgrounds). The video game industry in the United States is made up of several types of players from production studios and publishers to distributors and arcades. California is the leading state in terms of employment in the field, and alone accounts for almost half of the value generated by the industry in the United States.  

Key Goals of Game Changer  

• Participate in the internationalization of the French video game industry and introduce French studios to American publishers, financiers, and key contacts in the industry; learn from the best practices of American studios; and understand the practices of American gamers.  
• Raise awareness in the US about the diversity and uniqueness of French video game players and promote France’s attractiveness in the industry.  
• Promote French intellectual property to American studios.
• Encourage French studios to make progress on societal issues such as the feminization of the industry, diversity, impact gaming, and sustainable development.  

A Tailor-Made Program for French Creation

Participants will be invited to attend the following sessions: 

• Presentation of the American and French ecosystem, a masterclass, keynote speech, and workshop with key American players.  
• Meetings with platforms, publishers, studios, and producers, featuring agents and artists.  
• Networking event at the GDC festival, IP mini market.  
• Site visits in Los Angeles and San Francisco, e.g.  Activision Blizzard, Riot games, Twitch, Warner Bro, Twitch, Netflix Games, and Epic Games [program in the process of being consolidated].

Travel and accommodation expenses of the candidates will be covered by the program.  

These meetings will focus on the following strategic themes:  

• Creation: adaptation of intellectual property from or to video games (literature, film, audiovisual, etc.); storytelling; diversity and character creation; drawing inspiration from illustrators, animators, performers, and artists in American video games.  
• Technology & Production: AI at the service of video games (level generation, behavior trees, asset creation, etc.); multiplayer management.  
• Commercial: the free-to-play model; using social networks in the game lifecycle; succeeding on mobile; activating streamers.  
• Social: inclusion for the development of gaming communities; feminization of the industry; impact gaming.

The sequence will revolve around the Game Developer Conference, the world’s largest video game trade show, held in mid-March in San Francisco. During this week, a networking cocktail will be organized, with meetings and a presentation for the national trade press.  

Who can participate?  

Candidates are invited to complete this online form here. Candidates should specify their background, past and current projects, and their motivation for participating in the program.

Eligibility Criterias

The program is open to candidates representing French video game production studios that meet the following criteria:

For the studio:

• Must be a French studio (established and stable in France)
• Must be active, i.e. have at least one video in development

For the candidate:

• Must represent the studio (designated by the legal representative)
• Must possess French nationality
• Must be of legal age (21+)
• Professional level of English (read, spoken and written)

Selection Criteria

What criteria will the application be judged on?

• Interest of the studio in developing in the United States.
• Artistic quality of the video games developed.
• Economic relevance of the development model.
• Quality of the candidate’s background and experience.

The delegation will represent the French video game industry in all its diversity, particularly in terms of gender and geographical origin. 

Jury  

Schedule

Application deadline: November 24, 2024 
Jury session and announcement: December 2024 
March 11 – 14: Delegation in Los Angeles  
March 15 – 19: Delegation in San Francisco  

Contact  

Camille Jeanjean, New Media Officer: camille.jeanjean@villa-albertine.org