| Type | S.A. |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer and video game industry |
| Founded | 1985 (Microïds) 1992 (Index+) 2000 (Wanadoo Edition) 2003 (MC2 France) |
| Founder(s) | Emmanuel Olivier |
| Headquarters |
Montréal, Canada |
| Key people | Elliot Grassiano (Microïds founder) |
| Owner(s) | Anuman |
| Employees | 150+ (95 in Montréal) (as of Feb 2004)[1] |
| Website | The official Microïds website |
MC2 France is a French software company that develops and publishes video games focusing on adventure games. It was formed in 2003 when Emmanuel Olivier merged Microïds and Wanadoo Edition. In late 2009 all of the licences associated with the company were purchased by Anuman Interactive, and currently the Microïds brand is used.
Contents |
Microïds was founded in 1985 by Elliot Grassiano. For the first 10 years, Microïds was a development house, but in 1995 it expanded into publishing and distribution as well.[2]
Microïds is well known for the development of the adventure games including Syberia, Syberia II, Post Mortem and its sequel Still Life. Other notable games that Microïds has produced include Far Gate and the Nicky Boum series of action games for the Commodore Amiga.
On 23 November 2009 Anuman Interactive announced that they were acquiring the mark of and all the associated licences of Microïds.[3] The Microïds deal with MC2 was completed on 1 January 2010.[4]
In 2003 Emmanuel Olivier took control of Microïds and Wanadoo Edition and merged them to form MC2 France.
On September 30, 2003[5] Wanadoo Edition became part of MC2 France, from this deal Wanadoo also became a 12% shareholder in Microïds. This move was a part of a deal with the French government for Microïds to emerge from bankruptcy protection.
On March 2005 Ubisoft acquired part of MC2-Microïds (Microïds Canada) and integrated it into Ubisoft's Montréal studios.[6] In 2006 MC2 France acquired of a minority interest in the mobile games developer, Tetraedge; among Tetraedge's work, they have adapted Syberia for smartphones.[7]
2007 saw the re-introduction of the Microïds brand and all future releases by the company would go under either Microïds Montreal or Microïds Paris. In 2008 Microïds announced they had entered into a publishing agreement with Encore (part of Navarre Corporation), where Encore would publish Microïds entire catalogue in North America.[8] Similar deals were also struck with other companies for various territories. In 2008 the licences of Cryo Interactive were added to the company. In 2009 Anuman Interactive acquired the mark of and all the associated licences of the company, and currently uses the Microïds brand.
In 1992, Emmanuel Olivier founded Index+. Initially, the company developed interactive multimedia CD-Roms such as Le Louvre, Paintings and Palace in 1994. In 1995, it merged with another company, Arctad, founded by Vincent Berlioz and Jacques Simian, and began to publish its own productions. In this age of multimedia, they focused on graphical adventure games, often with a historical or an educational perspective (Crusaders, Paris 1313, Vikings, Louvre: the ultimate curse). The company's greatest success was Dracula: The Resurrection, a PlayStation and Windows adventure game set in Transylvania, which sold over 200,000 copies in October 1999.
In September 2000, Index+ purchased France Telecom Multimedia, a subsidiary of France's main telecommunication operator France Telecom, which was its distributor. The new company was then acquired by Wanadoo, the internet division of France Telecom, under the name Wanadoo Edition. It was then active in all phases of the videogame business: development, publishing, and distribution. Furthermore, France Telecom Multimedia developed internet content, and another Wanadoo subsidiary, Goa, specialized in online gaming, a market in which Wanadoo Edition intended to increase its business.
During its lifespan, Wanadoo Edition played a critical role in the French videogame business, publishing games for studios such as 4X, Babylon Software, Carapace, Etranges Libellules, Galilea Multimedia and PAM, and distributing products from independent publishers, such as Arxel Tribe, Kalisto Entertainment, Microïds and Monte Cristo. Wanadoo Edition's was a major player in the videogame market during the years which saw the demise of many French videogame companies, such as Kalisto, Cryo and 4X.
Wanadoo Edition teamed up with non-French studios as well, such as Asylum Entertainment, Spellbound, Haemimont Games, Rebellion Developments, and TimeGate. It also distributed games such as Tecmo (Project Zero, Rygar: The Legendary Adventure), Mythic Entertainment (Dark Age of Camelot) and PCCWJ (Raging Blades) in PAL territories. Finally, in its own studio, it developed its first 3D game: Inquisition. After the demise of Kalisto, Wanadoo Edition hired the developers working on the Castleween project so that they could finish the game in house.
The production at this time was heavily influenced by the personality of the editorial director, Edouard Lussan, a history buff. He created the concepts for most games, including the uchronic Iron Storm, set in an alternate, war-torn 1964, and Sniper Elite, which takes place in Berlin during the last days of World War II.
Emmanuel Olivier left Wanadoo Edition in January 2002 due to differences of opinion over strategy with the management of Wanadoo. A year later, in January 2003, Thierry Breton was appointed CEO of France Telecom. After a strategic audit, he decided to part with Wanadoo Edition, and the staff were laid off.
On 20 October 2008 Microïds acquired the brands and intellectual property of Cryo Interactive, who had been declared bankrupt in 2002.[9]
MC2 France have a vast catalog of games, featuring titles from Index+, Wanadoo Edition, and Microïds.