San Francisco Frontiers - Games publisher kepler on cloud nine after smash hits

"It's almost impossible to predict a success like 'Expedition 33'," Kepler chief Alexis Garavaryan told AFP ahead of the Gamescom trade show in the German city of Cologne this week, where he will be on the lookout for future hits.

Developed by a small French studio, the role-playing title with its Belle Epoque style setting has notched up glowing reviews, four million sales and a message of congratulations from President Emmanuel Macron.

The response crowned four years of hard work for Kepler, founded by seven independent studios with a $120 million investment from Chinese tech giant NetEase in 2021.

Garvaryan believes Kepler's unusual structure -- each studio is a part owner -- allows for better decision-making as developers who have already had several hit games have input into the group's direction.

- Creative freedom -

Based in London with around 50 employees, Kepler also publishes games from studios that do not belong to the group.

Unlike most publishers, it does not demand a high level of control over production of the games in its stable.

Kepler "never forces a decision on the teams", Garavaryan said.

"We're just there to guide them and help them along, not to interfere," he said.

That promise of creative freedom encouraged the team behind "Expedition 33" to sign up with Kepler, rather than one of their other publishing suitors.

"We liked their vision, the aspect of a publisher set up by developers who know what it's like being a studio," said Francois Meurisse, co-founder of creators Sandfall.

Kepler enlisted star actors like Andy Serkis and Charlie Cox to lend their voices to characters, and struck a deal with Microsoft to add "Expedition 33" to its Gamepass subscription service as soon as the title was released.

- 'Restrained budgets' -

"We're very selective: we look at 1,400 projects per year on average and only sign up two or three," Garavaryan said.

He added that projects with "restrained budgets" but "sufficiently strong visual rendition and innovative game mechanics" were Kepler's unique selling point.

French studio Sloclap, Kepler's biggest member with 135 staff, applied that formula for the hit football game "Rematch" that reached five million players in just one month.

Sloclap chief Pierre de Margerie said that they shared with "Expedition 33" both "an original proposal and quality execution".

"The creative freedom we have is also tied to the fact that we don't need to sell five or 15 million copies to turn a profit," he added.

Compared with so-called "AAA" blockbusters, whose development costs can run into the hundreds of millions, Kepler's titles are "more sustainable, more lean," said Rhys Elliott of gaming data firm Alinea Analytics.

The production style "is going to be a real test case for the rest of the industry", he added.

Now grown to nine member studios with the addition of outfits Tactical Adventures and The Gentlebros, Kepler has "no expansion plans" for now.

Garavaryan called the strategy "reassuring" after "all of the excesses there have been in our industry over the past few years".

P.Thomas--SFF