Coktel Vision
French video game developer and publisher From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coktel Vision (also known as Coktel and Coktel Studio) was a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. It was best known for its educational and adventure games.
| |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder | Roland Oskian |
| Defunct | October 2005 |
| Fate | Merged into Mindscape |
| Headquarters | , France |
| Parent |
|
History
Summarize
Perspective
Coktel Vision was founded in 1984 by Roland Oskian, an engineer and a former executive at Matra Espace.[1] The French gaming market was still developing at the time, the company consisted of only several people who worked from Oskian's house, with Roland acting as a director and composer and his wife Catherine creating graphics and cover art.[2]
Coktel made its name by publishing simulation, action and narrative-driven adventure titles for the Thomson and Amstrad CPC computers. Their catalogue included both original and licensed games often based on Franco-Belgian comics such as Asterix, Lucky Luke and Blueberry. They saw a quick growth and in several years entered the edutainment market, while also starting to port their games to PC and Macintosh.[2]
In 1986, Muriel Tramis joined Coktel Vision. Known as the first female French video game designer, she quickly turned into the studios' leading talent, developing some of its best-selling games and gaining the informal title of "Roberta Williams of France".[3][4] Tramis often explored political and social themes novel for its time such as imperialism, slavery and eroticism, collaborating with the créolité writer Patrick Chamoiseau.[5][6] Yet her name is usually associated with more family-friendly series like Gobliiins co-created with Pierre Gilhodes and Adibou, the long-running commercially successful educational games that had sold over 1.5 million copies by 1997.[7][8]
Tramis described Coktel Vision as a diverse company with a "start-up atmosphere" that allowed plenty of freedom to its designers.[9] During the early 1990s Coktel experimented with various formats such as 3D and FMV and enjoyed continued strong growth: in 1993 it made 75 million francs against 30 million in 1992, with the Adibou series covering 65% of the French edutainment market and 35% of the European market.[1] By 1996 those numbers increased up to 75% in France.[2]
In 1992, the company was acquired by the American publisher Sierra On-Line (the deal was finalised on 29 October 1993).[2][10] Ken Williams later said that Sierra was more interested in expanding its European educational sales than in Coktel's games.[11] As part of the deal, Sierra published popular French titles worldwide while Coktel localised and published Sierra's games through its Tomahawk publishing label. In 1996 after Urban Runner became a commercial failure the company decided to focus on educational titles rather than adventure games.[2]
In February 1996, Sierra along with its subsidiaries was acquired by CUC International, with Coktel becoming part of CUC's new CUC Software branch.[12] CUC was then merged with HFS Incorporated into Cendant and in 1998 sold its software branch to the French publisher Havas, which was acquired by Vivendi.[13] Coktel continued producing edutainment titles, focusing on the European market only; in 1999 Roland Oskian left the company, and in 2003 he was followed by Muriel Tramis after the new management decided to subcontract some of the major Coktel's titles.[2]
In October 2005, Coktel Vision was sold to French publisher Mindscape, wherein eleven Coktel employees were absorbed into Mindscape.[14] Mindscape retained the Coktel brand until closing in 2011.[2]
Subsidiaries
- MDO – a Bordeaux-based company which did all the programming. Named after its three founders: Mathieu Marciacq, Arnaud Delrue and Roland Oskian.[2]
- Tomahawk – presented as a subsidiary, it was only a label that Coktel Vision used to publish simulation and erotic games to distance themselves from edutainment titles.[15]
Games published
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1987 | Asterix and the Magic Carpet |
| Dakar Moto | |
| Méwilo | |
| Robinson Crusoe | |
| 1988 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
| Freedom: Rebels in the Darkness | |
| The Jungle Book | |
| 1989 | Asterix: Operation Getafix |
| Emmanuelle | |
| Oliver & Company | |
| Legend of Djel | |
| 1990 | No Exit |
| Geisha | |
| Galactic Empire | |
| 1991 | E.S.S. Mega |
| Fascination | |
| Gobliiins | |
| Little Red Riding Hood | |
| 1992 | A.J.'s World of Discovery |
| Bargon Attack | |
| Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon | |
| Inca | |
| 1993 | Goblins Quest 3 |
| Lost in Time | |
| Ween: The Prophecy | |
| 1994 | The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble |
| Inca II: Wiracocha | |
| Playtoons 1: Uncle Archibald | |
| Playtoons 2: The Case of the Counterfeit Collaborator | |
| 1995 | The Last Dynasty |
| Playtoons 3: The Secret of the Castle | |
| Playtoons 4: The Mandarin Prince | |
| Playtoons 5: The Stone of Wakan | |
| 1996 | Urban Runner |
| 1999 | Adiboo's Magical Adventure |
| 2001 | Adiboo and the Green Shadow |
| 2002 | Zibouille : Neunoeuf en cavale |
| 2003 | Adiboo & Paziral's Secret |
| The Cat in the Hat | |
| 2004 | Adiboo and the Energy Thieves |
| Crash Bandicoot Fusion | |
| Spyro Fusion |
References
External links
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