The serious game market | france - France

1.2 A growing global market

The serious game market is one of the components of the video game industry, a dynamic global market valued at over $***.* billion in **** by Research and Markets.

The global serious games market is also a growth market. In fact, this market was valued at $*.* billion in ****, and is expected to grow at an average annual growth rate (***) of **.**%, to exceed $** billion in ****. [***]

evolution of the global serious game market size World, **** - ****, in billions of USD Source: ****

Serious games can have a wide range of applications, and are used in a number of fields, including professional training, education, healthcare and defense. The serious games market developed during the health crisis caused by covid-**, benefiting in particular from the digital transformation of companies during this period. For example, serious games can be used to meet training and distance education needs.

In terms of media, the smartphone dominates the serious games market, mainly because of its value for money. In terms of uses, the sector is driven by simulation and training. Furthermore, the Asia-Pacific region dominates the global market, reflecting the high level of consumer use of new technologies.

Future growth drivers for the market are the democratization of virtual, augmented and mixed ...

1.3 The domestic market

The video game market in France, which includes the serious game market, is estimated at *.* billion euros in ****. The slight decline observed between **** and **** is due to a particular context (***), but nevertheless shows a resilient sector with high growth prospects. The market grew by **.*% between **** and ****, and seems to have benefited from the health crisis, since after a **** that saw the sector's sales fall by *.*% compared to ****, the market grew by **.*% in ****.

French video game market size France, **** - ****, in millions of euros Source: ****

At the time of writing, no figures were available for the size of the serious game market in France. However, it is possible to estimate it on the basis of available data on the global market and data from the French video game market:

Based on global data for ****, it is estimated that, worldwide, the serious game market represents around *.**% of the total video game market[***]. Assuming that the serious game share of the total video game market is comparable in France, and that this share remains stable over the years, we can estimate the national serious game market at *** million euros in **** .

The following graph shows that the market has been growing in recent years, rising ...

2.1 In-company training, the first outlet for serious games

The main outlet for serious games is professional training[***] These large companies are the core target of the sector, since they can train hundreds of employees with a serious game, making their investment in "serious games" profitable.

It is therefore interesting to look at companies' training needs:

From a Human Resources perspective:

The health crisis caused by covid-** has had a major impact on employee training. Indeed, **% of human resources managers surveyed by Cegos have significantly modified their training offer since the start of the crisis. For example, **% of them have set up online systems, and **% of them have introduced mixed methods (***). In particular, the following *:

Digital communication Remote collaboration Agility/adaptation

The following graph shows HRDs' priorities in terms of corporate skills. We can see that they are more interested in upgrading the skills of their employees, whether in their current position or in another, than in recruiting new profiles, showing a willingness to implement upskilling and reskilling approaches, thus foreshadowing significant training needs. What's more, only *% of HR managers have no specific plans to develop the skills of their employees.

HR training priorities France, ****, in Source: ****

From the employee's point of view

Company employees are increasingly involved in their ...

2.2 The use of new technologies in training

New technologies are increasingly used in employee training. As proof, digital learning is now adopted by **% of professional training players, according to a study by the FFFOF. Furthermore, following the democratization of the CPF, **% of HR managers want to innovate their training solutions[***]

This trend was further accelerated by covid-**, as **.*% of professional training players adopted digital learning methods following the health crisis. The following graph also shows that digital learning tools have been adopted by the majority of players over the past * years.

What's more, by ****, **% of French employees are ready to consider professional retraining[***]. This need, coupled with the rapid evolution of professions, is increasing the demand for professional training .

Age of use of digital learning methods France, ****, in SOurce : FFFOD

The **** e-learning barometer shows that, for the first time in ****, blended learning, i.e. training combining traditional classroom-based courses and e-learning tools, is the training method most widely used by companies.

Percentage of companies using blended learning... France, ****, in % Source: ****

This trend towards blended learning is set to continue in ****, with **% of companies planning to switch their training to multimodal formats. Only *% of companies want to move towards more face-to-face training. [***]

However, despite the strong growth in digital ...

2.3 Demand extends to increasingly diverse sectors and uses

Because serious games can take so many different forms and serve so many different purposes, the spectrum of demand sectors and uses for serious games is constantly expanding (***)

The main sectors of demand for serious games are as follows, with an example of a serious game:

Education: the Dragon Box Elements game, aimed at children aged * and over, enables this audience to understand and learn geometry and Euclid's theorems while playing Information and communication: with the Hellopolys game, Orange invites the general public to build a city's telecom network, similar to the Sim City video game. Health : simulation games such as Virtual Dental Implant Training Simulation Program, which enables dentists to practice performing operations Culture: in ****, CCCP launched its first serious game created with the French Ministry of Culture, entitled Romanica. The game was available on iOS and Android, and was designed to promote the France-Romania Year. Defense: the Serious Games Network-FR association organizes the annual serious game forum at the Ecole Militaire, with the aim of developing serious games among defense players in France, such as the SGDSN, DSJN, Mission Cadre Dirigeants des SPM, EOGN or CHEM, l'Ecole de Guerre. Aeronautics : Mission Refueling, a serious game developed by Interactive *D ...

3.1 The serious game market, a segment of the video game industry

Overview of the structure of the video game market:

In ****, there will be around *** video game development studios , up from *** in **** (***). [***] This increase in the number of studios is an indicator of the attractiveness of this sector.

The sector is also characterized by the strong presence of young companies. Indeed, most companies in the sector are young, with **. *% less than * years old, and only **.*% more than ** years old.

Breakdown of development studios by year of existence France, ****, in Source: ****

Furthermore, France is considered the *nd most attractive country, after the United States, and **.*% of studio sales were generated internationally in ****. [***]

In terms of sales, the development studio sector remains largely dominated by small companies: in fact, **.*% of studios recorded sales of less than €***k in ****. Less than **% of companies reported sales in excess of €* million in the same year.

Distribution of studios by sales France, ****, in Source: ****

it should also be noted that the financial situation of these companies is fragile. Indeed, while only **.*% are in surplus and **.*% break even, **.*% will be in deficit in fiscal ****.

The serious game within the video game market:

Serious games are one type of game developed by studios. In ****, *.*% of studios said they were producing ...

3.2 The serious game value chain

The serious game industry's value chain is very similar to that of the video game industry, a simplified representation of which is shown below:

Source: ****

For the serious game market, it's the software part that's the most interesting. Indeed, the hardware part concerns the manufacture of game media (***).

On the software side, there are three main types of player on the serious games market:

Developers: these are the studios that create the game or customize it based on a pre-existing game. The developer model can be B*B, B*C or B*B*C. As we saw earlier, video game development studios in France are still mainly VSEs or SMEs, with limited sales and a few years of existence. Serious games developers often specialize in this format. Publishers: these are the companies that manage the publication, communication and marketing of the games they develop. It's important to note that some players combine these first two stages of the value chain, combining the roles of developer and publisher. Conversely, while many developers specialize in serious games, this is not the case for publishers: publishers remain mainly cross-functional and non-specialized. Distributors: these are the companies at the end of the value chain responsible ...

3.3 Major players in serious games in France

The table below shows some of the main French players in the serious game sector (***):

Source: ****

it should be noted that there are also companies specializing in non-digital serious games, although they are few in number. For example, Game Partners offers serious games in the form of board games for private companies, public corporations, associations, etc. who want a high-impact medium for their customers, employees or partners.

3.4 Hardware

In serious game production, France is on the software development side. Different types of hardware can be used to support the software developed:

Computer A smartphone A video game console (***) Virtual reality and augmented or mixed reality headsets and goggles.

To date, we haven't been able to find any figures giving the share of use for each type of serious game hardware. Nevertheless, we can note that video games in France are growing strongly on PCs in **** (***), while the market share of game consoles has fallen by *.*% over the same year. The share of smartphones remains unchanged.

However, the share of console video games will remain in the majority in ****.

Breakdown of video game market share by hardware type France, ****, in Source: ****

The leaders in hardware production are : Apple, Samsung, Nintendo, PlayStation, ...

4.1 Offer typology and pricing

Types of offer

Serious games can have three aims:

Training or assessment Promotion or marketing Information or awareness-raising

Depending on these aims, different types of serious games can be distinguished:

Advergaming: promotional or marketing purposes, mainly for promotional purposes Edutainment: primarily educational or training purposes Edumarket game: dedicated to communication strategy, with an educational aspect. The aim is to educate a target market. Engaging games: these use video game codes to highlight and denounce political, social and geopolitical issues... Training and simulation games: their aim is to help users train for a specific task, or to train them to deal with different situations recreated virtually

Source: ****

Finally, to meet these different objectives, the game can take several forms and vary according to several parameters:

Type of game : Historical/scenario Strategy/management Precision/skill Action/reflexes Length of content Quality of integrated graphics and technology

Source: ****

Price

According to FormaGuide, while a classic video game has a development cost of around €** million, a serious game has a much lower budget, between €** and €***,***. The founder of My-Serious-Game, for his part, puts development costs at between €** and €**,***. Compared with other types of video game, these low production budgets may explain the poor graphic quality ...

4.2 Supply trends: integrating technological advances

To create ever-higher-quality games and satisfy customers looking for continuous innovation in games, specialist companies are taking a keen interest in integrating new technologies. In ****, **% of development studios said they wanted to integrate virtual reality into their games, and **% said they wanted to integrate augmented reality. The challenge here is not only to increase realism, but also to strengthen players' interest, to prevent them from dropping out.

Share of development studios wishing to integrate more VR/AR/mixed reality France, ****, in % Source: ****

However, in reality, only **% of studios are developing a VR game project in ****, well below the studios' stated desire. The situation is different for the integration of augmented reality, since **% of studios are currently developing at least one game project using augmented reality. This can be explained by the lower production costs required by augmented reality compared with virtual reality.

As far as serious game studios in particular are concerned, these technologies are becoming more widely available, as can be seen from the range of technologies on offer for serious games[***]

5.1 Personal data regulations

Like many digital fields, serious games are not exempt from the transverse regulations on personal data:

Initially, the French Data Protection Act of January *, **** provided the legal framework for the protection of personal data in France.

In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (***).

Article * of the General Data Protection Regulation (***) states that "any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person is personal data."[***]

In ****, the CNIL published a guide for developers to help them comply with the RGPD.[***]

In addition, serious games platforms, software and applications must also comply with Article * of the Civil Code, which protects the right to privacy. However, the notion of private life is not defined by law, but has been clarified by case law and can be considered to include health status, sentimental life, image, religious practice, family relationships and intimacy.[***]

In the near future, serious games may also be governed by :

the ePrivacy Regulation, a European Union project aimed at strengthening citizens' online privacy by "governing all electronic communications on publicly available services and networks originating from individuals within the European Union"[***]. The regulation is due to come into force in ****.

the draft regulation, also European, to govern artificial intelligence. This ...

5.2 The Video Games Tax Credit (CIJV)

The video game tax credit (***) is a tax deduction scheme for companies with innovative and creative projects in the video game industry. Included in the French Audiovisual Act of March *, ****, and effective from January *, ****, the main aim of this measure is to improve the competitive position of French companies internationally.

The video game tax credit was modified in ****, increasing the tax credit rate from **% to **%, as well as the credit ceiling from €* million to €* million per company. Overall, all companies creating video games, including serious games, are eligible for this tax credit, whatever the medium (***). please note that to be eligible for the CIJV, the development value of the project concerned must be greater than or equal to €***,***. [***]

6.1 Market segmentation

• Daesign
• Ishtar Games
• Breakaway Games
• Ubisoft
• Activision Blizzard
• Arkane Studios
• Electronic Arts
• Gameloft
• AD Inviders
• My Serious Game
• Almedia
• Collock