Asobo Studio SAS is a French

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

based in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

and founded in 2002. The studio is most known for developing video game adaptations of several

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...

movies, '' A Plague Tale: Innocence'', and the 2020 version of '' Microsoft Flight Simulator''. The studio's name is derived from the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

word "''asobou''" (遊ぼう) that means "let's play".

History

In 2002, a group of twelve video game developers purchased the rights to the multiplayer

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

video game ''

Super Farm ''Super Farm'' is a party video game with a farmyard theme developed by Asobo Studio and published by Ignition Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game was re-released for Windows 8 in 2013 to commemorate its 10th anniversary. Story Centeri ...

'' and founded Asobo Studio. Their first game was published in 2003 by

Ignition Entertainment Ignition Entertainment Limited, doing business as UTV Ignition Games, was a video game publisher of Indian media conglomerate UTV Software Communications. After The Walt Disney Company acquired UTV Software Communications as a wholly owned subsi ...

. During the following years, the studio developed several games for various platforms, until being chosen by publisher

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initi ...

to create the

video game adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography ...

film ''

Ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ), oc, ratatolha , is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables which originated in Nice, and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include ...

''. Asobo started increasing its growth-speed, recruiting about 20% new employees a year, leading to two separate production lines. Asobo was selected to develop the video game adaptation of Pixar's following films ''

WALL-E ''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton, pro ...

'' and '' Up''. During the 2008

Games Convention The Games Convention (GC), sometimes called the Leipzig Games Convention, was an annual video game event held in Leipzig, Germany, first held in 2002. Besides video games, the event also covers Infotainment, Hardware, and Edutainment. Its concep ...

, the video game publisher

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Octo ...

announced ''

Fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

'', a racing game developed by Asobo Studio. ''Fuel'' was released in 2009 for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

and PC. The studio worked on '' Kinect Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure'' for Xbox 360 Kinect between 2010 and 2012. The game features a scanning process, enabling the player to create their own Pixar avatar, looking like them. It features characters from ''

'', ''

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah V ...

'', ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

'', '' Up'' and''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

''. The game was published by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

and

Disney Interactive Studios Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher owned by The Walt Disney Company through Disney Interactive. Prior to its closure in 2016, it developed and distributed multi-platform video games and interactiv ...

in March 2012. In 2014, Asobo Studio partnered with

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

to release ''

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

Family Fun'' pack on PlayStation 3,

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

, Xbox 360 and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

, including ''Monopoly Plus'', ''My Monopoly'' and ''Monopoly Deal'', as well as '' The Crew'' for Xbox 360. In 2016, Asobo Studio partnered with

again to release two games on

HoloLens Microsoft HoloLens is an augmented reality (AR)/ mixed reality (MR) headset developed and manufactured by Microsoft. HoloLens runs the Windows Mixed Reality platform under the Windows 10 operating system. Some of the positional tracking techn ...

: ''Fragments'' and ''Young Conker''. Both games are available in the ''Development Edition'', released on March 30, 2016. Asobo Studio was the first independent developer in Holographic Entertainment and won the 2016 French Video Game Creator Prize awarded by Syntec Numérique EY and SNJV. In 2017, the studio announced '' A Plague Tale: Innocence'', an

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...

, released for PC and consoles in 2019 and published by

Focus Home Interactive Focus Entertainment (formerly Focus Home Interactive) is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris, France. Founded in 1996, Focus has published and distributed original titles such as ''Sherlock Holmes'', ''TrackMania'', '' Run ...

. They also worked with

Engine Software Engine Software (formerly MSX-Engine) is a Dutch Indie video game developer, located in Doetinchem, Netherlands, which specialized in handheld video games and digital platforms until 2011. In the period after (2011-present) they have become more ...

to develop ''Monopoly for Nintendo Switch'', which came out later that year. Their latest release was ''

Microsoft Flight Simulator ''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' is a series of amateur flight simulator programs for Microsoft Windows operating systems, and earlier for MS-DOS and Classic Mac OS. It was an early product in the Microsoft application portfolio and differed sig ...

'', published on August 18, 2020 for Microsoft Windows. In 2021, Sagard NewGen purchased a stake of just over 30% for €20 million, valuing the company at approximately €65 million. In March 2021, Asobo's ''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' won the Pégase for Best French video game of the year. This is the second consecutive year that the studio has been awarded after ''A Plague Taleː Innocence'' in 2020. The sequel of ''A Plague Tale: Innocence'', titled '' A Plague Tale: Requiem'', was released on October 18, 2022.

Games developed

References

External links

* {{Authority control French companies established in 2002 Companies based in Bordeaux Video game companies established in 2002 Video game companies of France Video game development companies Privately held companies of France