OCCITANIE

Occitanie is a major region for French video games, with more than 120 companies active in the sector, mainly concentrated in the cities of Montpellier and Toulouse. With a history marked by Ubisoft Montpellier (Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – Pégase for Best Video Game 2025), the region is home to major publishers such as Plug In Digital and Playdigious, as well as internationally renowned studios such as Blue Twelve Studio (Stray), Rundisc (Chants of Sennaar), DigixArt (Road 96) and Sandfall Interactive (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33).

Twenty training centers across the region offer courses leading to careers in the industry, including ArtFX, ESMA, Paul Valéry University, and Slope Audio Training. Several funds support creation each year (design, pre-production), led by the Occitanie Region and Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole in particular. The Montpellier Game Lab, a program co-run by the Push Start association and the Montpellier Business & Innovation Center (BIC), has been incubating studios from across the region since 2021.

Beyond video games, the Region’s dynamic approach extends to all cultural and creative industries and promotes synergies between them, whether in animation (Fortiche, TAT), film production (France TV), or the influencer sector (ZQSD, ZeratoR).

KEY FIGURES

• 🏢 8,8 % of total national video game companies
• 💻 85 % of local studios are indie video game studios
• 🧑‍💼+ 1500 employees from the video game industry
• 🏫 20 specialized schools

MAIN ACTORS

Studios: Ubisoft Montpellier, Blue Twelve Studio, Sandfall Interactive, DigixArt, Rundisc, The Game Bakers, Miju Games, Virtuos, Alt Shift, Midgar Studio
Publishers: Plug In Digital / Dear Villagers, Playdigious, Nacon
Service Providers: Nobody, MenhirFX, The Yard, Mathematic Studio, enCaps, ZQSD, Stormancer, Umeshu Lovers, Sourcing in The Rain
Schools: ArtFX, ESMA, Objectif 3D, Brassart, Creajeux, Studio Mercier, Slope Audio Training, Université de Montpellier 2, Université de Montpellier, Paul Valéry, IUT Tarbes, INU Albi (Master AMINJ), Ynov, Eartsup
Incubators and Accelerators: Montpellier Game Lab, BIC Montpellier

Game Labs: LIRMM (Laboratoire d’Informatique, Robotique et Microélectronique de Montpellier), CERTOP (Université de Toulouse), SGRL (Serious Game Research Lab, Albi)

REGIONAL PUBLIC FUNDINGS

In addition to the grant for prototyping, video game companies can also access regional grants that are not specifically dedicated to gaming but are open to it. Montpellier Metropolitan Area established in 2022 a fund dedicated to Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI), including video games, to provide financial support for local projects. The Greater Avignon Urban Community, which partly covers the Occitanie region, also offers a local support fund specifically targeting “Animation, video games, and digital creation”. These complementary schemes provide strong public support for the development of the industry at the regional level.

LOCATION & ATTRACTIVENESS

🚊Transport infrastructure: Occitanie benefits from excellent connections: Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport (direct European flights), Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (international hub), and the TGV stations in Montpellier (3h20 from Paris) and Toulouse (4h30 from Paris). The A9 motorway and the LGV Méditerranée high-speed rail line ensure optimal accessibility across the region.

💡Attractive cities for video game companies: Montpellier, Toulouse

🏳️Foreign companies established in the region: Virtuos, Embracer Group

The metropolitan areas provide recognized and appreciated support for local business establishment, complemented by incubators across several cities. This dynamic is reinforced by AdOcc, (a proactive and efficient regional economic development agency), and by a vast ecosystem that goes beyond video games, fostering strong synergies among Cultural and Creative Industries (cinema, animation, VFX, music…).

THE LOCAL ASSOCIATION