Bringing recognized video game professionals such as Romuald Capron, former studio director of Arkane Lyon (Deathloop, Dishonored), Cédric Lagarrigue, founder and former CEO of Focus Home Interactive publishing, together with two talents, Mika Tanguy and Gilles Aujard, from the world of visual effects in cinema and animation, ZeDrimeTim aims to bridge animated feature films and video games proficiencies.

Darwin’s Paradox is a platformer and adventure game for PC & console. It draws its influences from the standards of the genre led by Playdead studios (Inside, Limbo) or Tarsier Studios (Little Nightmares), and by bringing a new proposal filled with humour, and influenced by the Golden Age of the 1950s science fiction and today’s 3D animation feature films. Developed in the new Unreal Engine 5, it will be released on PC and consoles in 2024.

Mika Tanguy, general manager of ZeDrimeTim, who has supervised visual effects of many films and collaborated with the greatest directors, comments:

“Feature films and animation are increasingly using video game tools such as Unreal Engine. ZeDrimeTim studio’s goal is unique and original: it brings movie and animation artists, together with video game talents around authentic productions.”

Romuald Capron, ex-studio director of Arkane Lyon is part of this adventure as associate and executive producer:

“After an already quite full career in video games, I wanted to get involved in a project on a human scale. I was immediately attracted by the art direction and gameplay mechanics of Darwin’s Paradox and I’m really excited to help the team at ZeDrimeTim, to turn that vision into a game with a strong identity.”

Cédric Lagarrigue, founder of the publisher Focus Home Interactive, which he managed for twenty years:

“I have had the good fortune in my career to discover and support studios and their games which, despite their limited budgets, became great hits. Darwin’s Paradox has the ingredients that falls into this category. The excellent playable prototype and the positioning of the studio convinced me to invest in the project and accompany the team in this exciting adventure.”

Fundraising was carried out to allow the young studio to benefit from the financial base needed for the pre-production and production phases, for the launch of Darwin’s Paradox. This fundraising brought together the four partners, business angels from the Entertainment, Videogame and Finance industries as well as Bpifrance, the French Sovereign Fund.