The first-person shooter “Deathloop” from the Lyon studio Arkane was named best video game of the year on Thursday evening during the 3rd edition of the Pégases, which rewards the best French creations.
The event presented by host Salomé Lagresle took place live at La Cigale in Paris, where some 700 people gathered, and was also broadcast on the Twitch streaming platform.
“Deathloop”, released in September 2021 on PlayStation and PC and published by the American Bethesda, won in 5 of the 8 categories in which it was nominated: the “best game”, “visual excellence”, “the best game design”, the “best universe” and the new “Pégase du public” awarded following an online vote open to Internet users.
The principle of this shooter, already awarded in the United States with the prize for best achievement at the Game Awards 2021, is based on a time loop, which leads the player to start over and over again the same day, to assassinate 8 protagonists as you go. and as it progresses.
Deathloop, a “weird” game
“Deathloop is a weird game [dont le principe n’est] not within everyone’s reach” and which required many adjustments, said Dinga Bakaba, the studio’s creative director and author of the hit series “Dishonored”.
The man was also awarded the prize for personality of the year on Thursday.
The title was overtaken in number of nominations by the independent game “Road 96” from the Montpellier studio DigixArt (which recently joined the Koch Media group), a narrative adventure inspired by American road movies.
“Road 96” leaves with five awards, including the Pégase for best independent video game, as well as that of the best sound universe, narrative excellence, and best accessibility.
In 2021, the Bordeaux team of Asobo was honored for the second year in a row, with the prize for the best French production awarded to the flight simulator “Flight Simulator”, which made its return after fourteen years of ‘absence.
85 games in the running this year
The “Pégases”, founded by the national video game union which brings together French professionals in the sector on the model of the Césars for cinema, have been awarded since 2020 following a vote by the 1,500 members of the Académie des video game arts and techniques.
85 games initially competed in 19 categories, selection reduced to three games per category after a first round of voting.
5.3 billion
The video game is the first French cultural industry in turnover with 5.3 billion euros generated in 2020, according to the Syndicate of leisure software publishers (Sell) which will publish the figures for the year 2021 on Friday.