Paris Games Week 2024 will open its doors very soon. Ahead of the event, we were able to ask a few questions to Nicolas Vignolles, general delegate of SELL and organizer of the PGW.
JV: This year, Paris Games Week is celebrating its 12th anniversary. What did you learn from this event to ensure its success for many years to come?
Nicolas Vignolles : Paris Games Week is the ideal show to discover games that you don’t yet have at home, go for a walk with family or have a good time with friends. What makes it successful is first and foremost that it keeps its historic promise: to allow as many video game fans as possible to be able to test new products! Then, this show has been able to evolve constantly for 12 years; we are trying to respond to the new aspirations of our visitors who, after covid, are asking us for an ever more qualitative “live” experience. The PGW is a spectacle that can now be experienced with controllers in hand, sneakers on feet, with a truly quality visit and on-site experience. This is a huge amount of work the show has done since 2022. And our audience appreciates it.
Image source: PGW official website
JV: During the event at Paris City Hall, James Rebours declared that in 2024, the PGW will go “further with new players” who will make it possible to offer “an ever richer experience, open to the worlds of entertainment and pop culture. . Can you tell us about these new actors? Generally speaking, what are the new features of this 2024 edition?
Nicolas Vignolles : Yes, I can confirm that this is what we will find at Paris Games Week in 2024! The show is more open than ever to pop culture with concerts on our esports stages like the rapper Gaso on the Asus stage last year, a huge manga district with Manga.io this year, a cosplay village in “apocalyptic setting” mode » or even a large village unique in Europe mixing sport and Esport of more than 3000 m². We will have major international brands and will continue to put on a “show” with for example the presence of Tesla and the famous Cybertruck, with many new experiences on site. Even on the “video game” offer, we have redesigned the show with many more stages (13 in total this year) and as many influencers as possible on our stands and esports stages. In terms of esports, this year we will have an incredible Webedia scene with the richest programming ever seen at PGW, and in particular the official watch party of the semi-finals of the League Of Legends Worlds on Sunday afternoon which promises an atmosphere madness. A fantastic live experience for those who didn’t have a ticket to the Adidas Arena.
Image source: PGW official website
JV: The 3 main manufacturers, Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, will be present, and they will not be the only ones. Can you tell us the stands not to be missed to fully experience PGW 2024?
Nicolas Vignolles : The 3 manufacturers PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo will be present, but also the world’s largest publishers including Arc System Works, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Plaion, Riot Games, Sega, Ubisoft. The French video game industry will be in the spotlight, like every year, with the “Games made in France” stand which will celebrate its ten years of presence at the show, with real gems presented like Crown Gambit (Playdigious Originals), Orbital Dance (World Game), Les Crapauds du Bayou (La Grange), or Otherskin (Game Atelier). A presence of exceptional density, at a time when many shows are dropping their flag! All these stands are obviously not to be missed.
And if I had to tell you 3 others, I would first mention the Fast Close Combat stand, a unique experience combining sport and immersive reality, then the large manga district operated by Manga.io which will offer an incredible manga offer, including the Glénat . catalog, and finally the sports & esport village, where you will have access to a 750 m² skate and scooter scene or the possibility of testing VR ping with the French table tennis federation or pretending to be a pilot by sitting down in the best Driving sim of the places!
Image source: PGW official website
JV: The year 2024 has been difficult in the world of video games with studio closures and numerous layoffs. Does the PGW also aim to bring together video game professionals in France during this turbulent period?
Nicolas Vignolles : The PGW has a key role to play. Paris Games Week wants to become a recurring event for video game professionals! This year, we are innovating by creating “Future of Gaming”, a large conference stage and a meeting place for everyone interested in our industry: game creators, publishers, investors, lawyers, associations, politicians, administrations. For 5 days, we will address everything related to video games: AI, Blockchain, taxation, environment, gender equality, protection of intellectual property, video game/pop culture links, esports, training, professions. Together, with all professionals in the sector, we will shape the future of video games through fascinating debates. A large “Business VIP” networking space will allow all these professionals to continue discussions in a privileged manner.
And because the sector is in crisis, PGW wants to play its role to accelerate the recovery. For example, we are going to organize with the SNJV a major “invest” day open to video game companies and investors. Our objective is to unlock private investment in video games, by creating a more direct dialogue with large generalist technology funds, venture capital companies and banks. Our friends at Capital Game will, for their part, organize “Paris Game Biz”, an additional day of meetings between studios and publishers. It is therefore a collective effort which is launched on the occasion of this PGW!
Image source: PGW official website
JV: Bringing together video games, esports, cosplay, retro, pop culture, musical shows… that’s also what gamescom offers. The show which takes place in Cologne benefits from a big spotlight thanks to the ONL conference presented by Geoff Keighley. Are you considering similar conferences for PGW in the future? More generally, what weapons does Paris Games Week have against its German neighbor?
Nicolas Vignolles : Gamescom is a magnificent event. However, we do not compare ourselves. Paris Games Week has its own DNA and its own dynamics: a very general public show, a few weeks before Christmas. We are closer to our fans, with stands less focused on numbers and gigantism, but more on the experience. This is also why the three manufacturers continue to be present at PGW, this direct proximity to their audience, with numerous gaming stations on site. We appreciate this very strong “practical” side at PGW.
Another strength of PGW is our “Esports” scene. I think there is little equivalent in Europe in terms of eclecticism and quality of programming, including at Gamescom. For example, last year we hosted the Street Fighter 6 Capcom Pro Tour, a world-class competition. This year we will be an official Worlds Watch celebration thanks to an agreement with Riot Games, and a brand new Nintendo meeting, in addition to the national finals on League of Legends, Rocket League or Valorant. In 5 days, no one offers such esports density. Paris Games Week is finally a bet on sport and “live” experiences. This year we will have 13 stages throughout the show, so it will be a way of experiencing video games in “concert” mode that is quite unique in Europe. I went to G-Star in Korea last year and TGS in Japan this year, they are amazing shows, but they don’t have as many stages! The PGW is a unique celebration and festival.
Paris Games Week 2024 will take place from October 23 to 27, 2024 at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. For more information, the official website is available at here.
