New with old |Integrating Indies, developing Oldies: Akedo Studio's leitmotif!

The Magazine, Informations Entreprise wrote an article about our Studio!

​Integrating Indies, developing Oldies: Akedo Studio's leitmotif! A fully independent and 100% self-financed French video game studio, the company refocuses the focus on players in order to offer them playful entertainment, and this, through a vintage game style… without nostalgia! Let's enter the world of "Nick Reckless in The Curse of The Lost Cause", the first game from the firm.

Read it in French !

​June 4, 2019 is a milestone for Akedo Studio. On this date, the company is indeed preparing the production of the assets of its first video game. By taking advantage of its partnership with Rubika Montreal - coupled with Speed ​​Jobbing with 17 students - the independent studio is thus embarking on a 13-week race, through an assumed objective: to do something new, with old ! “We operate in an industry tamed by the majors. Here, the games certainly become more and more beautiful, but at the same time, the playful aspect is put in the background. Our desire is therefore to reshuffle the cards, to fit into another logic, which takes more account of what we could find in the games of the 80s and 90s; In short, a progressive course, which allows you to have fun, while learning” introduces for us Zoé Toussaint, Digital Marketing Manager and co-founder of Akedo Studio.

​In life and at work, the duo formed by the entrepreneur with Nicolas Juspin mixes new technologies and nineties design in order to offer all lovers of vintage video games entertainment in tune with their expectations!

​“We are obviously talking about an old-fashioned game here, where you have to find hidden parts, choose the right weapon in the right situation, etc. However, it also seemed important for us to enhance our game with new improvements, whether it be music in a "contemporary" format, the addition of special effects, etc. "explains Nicolas.


Acting as the "man behind the code", the co-founder introduces here some clues to illustrate the approach of a programmer with proven know-how!

​Within a universe made up of 4 environments - the jungle, the ruins, the cave and the temple - the players embody Nick Reckless, an upside-down Indiana Jones, struck by a curse that continues to haunt him. To get rid of it, Nick will have to overcome many obstacles, survive a whole set of traps, before returning the idol stolen by his ancestors.


Here, the hero immerses us in a colorful world, made up of randomly generated levels: “this will offer players almost infinite replayability” specifies Zoé in a second step.


Thanks to the magic of pixel art, Nick Reckless in The Curse of The Lost Cause takes up the codes that have made 2D platform games successful, with, it is true, a natural consideration of technological innovations.

“By developing the “little bit of technology” on top of that, we managed to create a game that was small in terms of weight, therefore presenting very low constraints. In the form, we have chosen a pixelated universe, with bright and contemporary colors. Even if the Oldies aspect is essential, we do not limit ourselves”. Continue Mr. Justin.
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No limit ; this is the idea that we can retain here! Thanks to its financial autonomy, Akedo Studio enjoys total independence, freedom of movement, the basis of an approach that makes it unique!


However, it is a question of not being mistaken. Behind this strong choice lie several challenges. Statistically, an independent studio is only profitable from its 5th game. Aware of the problem, Akedo Studio has launched the Loot Zone, an online store offering various products bearing the image of the firm. T-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, etc. A participatory campaign logic, which has the quality of trying to create a real relationship with the community!

​The Akedo Studio front

Initiated by Nicolas Juspin, Akedo Studio draws its expertise from the career of a 3D programmer who studied with the famous firm Ubisoft Montreal. Participating in the development of games such as Rainbow Six, Watch Dog or Splinter Cell (just that!), this enthusiast has evolved for more than 11 years within the AAA. Despite the attractiveness of his position, the programmer felt the need to rediscover what was the essence of his job. Nostalgic for his first lines of code on the Amiga 500, he decided to abandon the comfort of the majors in order to create his own gaming technology.

​And while Nick Reckless in The Curse of The Lost Cause is currently only available on PC, the time has now come for deployment: “our desire is to release our game on other media, such as Linux, or even Nintendo. There is also talk of developing a new universe, around a cyberpunk. At the same time, we are working hard on a project called Behind The Screen, a book whose role will be to answer questions about the development of a video game,” punctuates Madame Toussaint.