Entrepreneurship as a couple: Challenges expressed in the Voice of Leaders 2022

​The backstage of a great experience

​On a beautiful day in December 2021, the film crew came to meet us in our Studio to discuss pixels, pleasure and lightness. A great experience, and a funny exercise. It's quite extraordinary to find yourself in front of the camera to talk about your daily life as an entrepreneur - knowing that it will be published on national territory!

We had a lot of fun! And we hope that you will have as much to discover the article: AKEDO STUDIO - PIXELS, PLEASURE AND LIGHTNESS: At the crossroads between retro gaming and modern gaming. Akedo Studio integrates the Indies by rethinking the Oldies... continue reading in French >>>

​If French is not in your coding! We have translated the article for you!

​Complementary duo in life and at work, Zoé and Nico have created Akedo Studio, a 100% independent and self-financed video game development studio Launched in 2016, Akedo has just released its first game Nick Reckless in The Curse of The Lost Cause. Journey of a very young company, with ethical values ​​and playful creations, told by Zoé Toussaint, Digital Marketing Manager at Akedo Studio.

​Your first game Nick Reckless in The Curse of The Lost Cause has just been released, what is it?

​Our character Nick Reckless is a kind of anti-Indiana Jones, touched by a curse that never ceases to pursue him. It's a platform game with a retro twist. The player will have to return the idol stolen by Nick's ancestors while avoiding the traps that will be in his way. The hero evolves through randomly generated levels, which allows Gamers almost infinite replayability.
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In this game, the imagination takes over thanks to the magic of 2D, pixel art and neo-retro gameplay. We chose to take the game ideas that made us vibrate when we started playing.

Nick Reckless in The Curse of The Lost Cause has been available on itch.io and steam platforms since October 2021 and works on PC.

​What are your projects ?

​For 2022 we would like to release our game Nick Reckless on other media like Linux and maybe Nintendo. We are also developing our next game, the universe will be completely different, since the hero will be a cyberpunk.

And I'm working on a new project at the same time: it's called Behind The Screen. It is a book that answers the various questions that people may ask themselves: What is going on behind a video game? How do we code? How does pixel art work? To discover our universe and share our journey, we designed the Ak'Mag, with our stories of pixels, encounters, favorites, etc.

​Who is the man behind the code?​

​Akedo Studio is the initiative of Nico, a 3D programmer who studied at Ubisoft Montreal - from Rainbow Six to For Honor via Splinter Cell and Watch dog. Nostalgic for his first lines of code on the Amiga 500, when he created his first game: an "Asteroid" shooting game, Nico wanted to rediscover the taste for creation, as well as the beauty and magic of old school video games. In 2016, after eleven years dedicated to big budget games, Nico left the AAA industry to create his own game technology, to develop low and medium budget games. A big fan of e-sports games such as Street Fighter and Dota, Nico also draws his passion from games like Mario, Zelda, Quake III, Counter Strike, Starcraft, Unreal Tournament, Heroes of Magic and Might, Sonic, Tomb Raider and many more. others, from the late 80's to the most recent versions... The list would be too long.

​What is the challenge when you are an independent studio?

​Statistically an independent studio starting to be profitable after the 5th game, the challenge for us is to finance ourselves. This is why I created the loot zone in reference to a video game principle known to all Gamers. It's an online store that allows you to buy different products in limited series, it's like taking part in a participatory campaign. We offer t-shirts that take up the visuals of our first game, mugs, mouse pads but also the Artbook of the game Nick Reckless in The Curse of The Lost Cause. It is a sixty-page book that follows the evolution of the characters and places them in the universe of the game.

And of course, the video! ​

These are the debut in front of the camera, where we present the path of Akedo Studio since its creation, but above all its future projects! Watch it to find out how 2022 is shaping up. And above all, if you haven't already, discover Nick Reckless in The Curse of The Lost Cause and the Loot Zone.