Interview - A look back at Game Créalab Francophone with SpookiCG
The first edition of the Game Créalab Francophone s’est déroulé du 14 au 28 novembre à Paris. Et c’était l’une des expériences les plus enrichissantes pour les studios participants !
Le Game Créalab Francophone est une résidence de conception de jeux vidéo issus de l’espace francophone. Ce projet internationale s’est développé en partenariat avec Wallimage, le CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, la SODEC, la Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, le Film Fund Luxembourg et la Guilde du jeu vidéo de Québec.
La résidence créative a alors accueilli 5 équipes porteuses de projets, issues d’un pays ou territoire francophone (France, Luxembourg, Québec, Suisse et Wallonie). Pendant 12 jours, ces dernières ont alors pu bénéficier d’un travail accompagné de coachs, de webinaires et conférences, en plus de multiples conseils d’éditeurs. Ce travail a d’ailleurs été complété par une journée professionnelle au CNC, où les équipes ont du pitcher leur projet devant un public de professionnel·le·s. Pour l’occasion, Zoë Klein, du studio lauréat wallon SpookiCGwas kind enough to take part in our interview.
Hi Zoë! Can you introduce us to SpookiCG and the people behind the studio? And what's your career path so far?
« Hello! Alors SpookiCG, c’est un petit studio Namurois d’outsourcing, de tech, vfx et 3D en jeux vidéo co-fondé par Margot et moi, il y a 3 ans. On est passées toutes les deux par la HEAJ, en Technical Arts pour ma part et Game Art pour Margot. Ensuite on a fondé SpookiCG pour pouvoir prendre des contrats en collaboration, notamment en VR sur theBlu, Arizona Sunshine 2, Trombone Champ et, ça aussi, grâce à Damien qui a rejoint l’équipe en 2022. On aide aussi des supers projets belges comme Final Girl and Land of Symbiosis.
Now our next big project is our first game: KeyCars! " - Zoë
Comment avez-vous entendu parler du projet Game Créalab ? Pourquoi y participer et quelle a été votre réaction lorsque vous avez appris que vous étiez sélectionnées ?
« Grâce à toi, Laure haha. On a vu ça sur le serveur Discord de la WALGA mais on pensait rater l’occasion car on était complètement en mode préparation Gamescom. En revenant on a vu que la deadline avait été décalée et alors on a tout donné pour mettre à plat notre idée de jeu et monter un dossier solide en moins de 2 semaines.
So since we made the effort in game jam mode to push the dossier as far as possible, we didn't really expect to be selected, but we wanted to use it as an excuse to push the vision forward as far as possible.
Honestly, we were overexcited when we received the email, because we know exactly what an opportunity this represents for us as a studio embarking on its first game, and to be able to fill in the big gaps we may have in the more marketing, production, planning areas, etc." - Zoë
What project did you decide to work on during the residency? And what stage has it reached?
" KeyCars! (Coupe Cléo) It's an ultra-fast Arcade Racing game with a twist of narrative choices in a girly Neon-Punk universe, very much inspired by 2000s anime such as Beyblade, Bakugan,... where everything is a pretext for a toy battle. Here, KeyCars are key-ring cars that you can launch and miniaturize yourself inside. We play the role of Cléo, who finds herself almost in spite of herself in the underground world of the KeyCars championship, through which she discovers herself. We draw a lot of our inspiration from games like Sayonara Wild Hearts to revitalize the Arcade Racing genre (F-Zero, Ridge Racer), which has gradually fallen into oblivion. " - Zoë
What needs does the residence help you with in your project? What solutions have you found so far?
"When we submitted the application, we still had a very rough vision of our game. Particularly in terms of narrative design: how to present a multi-purpose narrative side without alienating an arcade racing audience who aren't always going to want to read text or wait for the next round. In the end, we managed to combine the two and make the presentation totally fluid. We now have a game design that offers the entire story almost without ever taking control from the player.
We were also able to mature our gameplay and scenario plans enormously throughout the residency." - Zoë
During this residency, you'll have the chance to take part in several webinars with French-speaking speakers. Sophie Schiaratura, CPO of Maracas Studio, was one of them this week. What did you learn from her webinar and those of other speakers?
"It was great to see a familiar face in Paris with Sophie, who got us back on track in terms of audience outreach on Steam in the backend. We were able to talk numbers, metrics to monitor and achieve to make the algorithm work in our favor and how to bring, and above all, keep players on Steam and Discord.
We also received a lot of interesting information from other players. For example, we got feedback on the game from several publishers with completely different backgrounds. From general feedback to details of contract clauses." - Zoë
Did the residency help you position your project in the market? Help you understand the ins and outs? Or pass on the tips and tricks of a good business plan?
"The residency was very useful in presenting the project and its target audience much better. We got a lot of feedback, especially in the feedback sessions with the publishers, where we could see where the presentation was stuck. How to better stand out from certain closed markets and what communication angle to take. For example, we found it hard to present the fact that this is a game that is very feminine in its (re)presentation, but without alienating a male audience, which is very difficult given the status quo where women are still under-represented, even more so in our genre.
Clearly, the game project resonates very strongly with our target audience, and that makes us very happy. At every presentation, we have women coming up to us just to say "Yes! We agree, we're sick of it!" just as we have gamers who are hyper-motivated by the ideas, aesthetics and gameplay position we present." - Zoë
Being in residence also means meeting other studios with projects! Did the effervescence of ideas help you develop your project?
"That's clearly the strong point of a residency like this. We exchanged ideas with the other projects all the time, because we all have completely different points of view and backgrounds. Different game references. We also have different strengths: some are very advanced on the market side, others on the production side, and above all, creatively, it's been extremely enriching.
All in all, the residency was an incredible human experience. We've forged very strong bonds between all of us, and we know we'll be able to count on each other's support." - Zoë
What next?
« Après une longue sieste, on espère vraiment pouvoir compter sur les fonds publics pour kickstart’ la production d’un vrai prototype de la boucle de gameplay pour pouvoir concrétiser notre vision un minimum. Ensuite on aimerait développer une démo jouable qui servirait de vertical slice avec une histoire très courte, quelques embranchements possibles, dans l’univers de KeyCars.
Then it's all a blur. It's hard for us to plan ahead, given the current political environment in terms of public funding, and the fact that a small structure like ours has seen its coffers shrink as a result of the industry's problems.
KeyCars, c’est un projet dans lequel on croit et qui, jusqu’ici, accroche vraiment les gens. Après en avoir parlé non-stop pendant 2 semaines, on n’en peut plus d’attendre et on veut juste s’y mettre à fond. » – Zoë
