CELEBRATING
FIVE YEARS OF
SABOTAGE STUDIO

Thierry's grandfather shows up unannounced with a paper bag full of NES games, out of which he gets to keep six. Little does he know, many of what would become cult classics are in there: Metroid, Little Nemo the Dream Master, Super C, Megaman 2, Zelda, and even some deep cuts like Super Team Games!

At the end of a most magical afternoon playtesting what feels like an infinite pile of wonders, the sixth and final pick was either going to be Ninja Gaiden 2 or Castlevania 3. Seven years old Thierry chooses Ninja Gaiden 2, a game that hits him so hard he starts getting up earlier so he can play it even before school. The beautiful and dark richness of Ninja Gaiden's world, its music, challenge, story and rewards plant a seed that gives birth to an obession he has yet to get over to this day. From this initial spark, over the years he comes into contact with his need to escape from the anxieties induced by too much shaming, and the power games have to provide coping for those in need, as well as entertainment for those in want.

Midway through elementary school, armed with a complete inability to draw and a dream to one day entertain the universe, a fantasy world starts to build in Thierry's mind.

Thierry and Dunlay meet at work and become fast friends, bonding over gaming. They move in together, and over the next couple of years video games take the stage just like during their respectives childhoods.

The binge is on in the era of World of Warcraft and Twilight Princess.

At school they meet Pac, who Thierry approaches because he has a Blind Guardian shirt. The friendship is instantaneous and very symbiotic. Pac is more on the shy side but wants to have fun, and Thierry needs to learn how to do homework and study.

He will be forever grateful for Pac, without whom he absolutely would have failed school and given up on his dream. Along with Dunlay, they all get their degree.

Before there was a mature ecosystem with first party exclusivity deals and publishers hunting for new titles to add to their portfolio, it was a real puzzle to gather the financial means to work fulltime on a video game project with a small team.

The Canada Media Fund is launched, with the goal of supporting innovation in digital medias. This makes it much more viable for a studio to get started with funding, provided it can prove the potential of its idea. Over the years, the CMF would play a big role in helping the ecosystem grow into what it is today.

Over a bit more than 10 years, they funded 634 Canadian games.

Phil appears to drop out of nowhere. A tech-meets-marketing wizkid who has been in the startup world for the past 5 years, now looking for a bit of stability. He takes a job as junior project manager, and is very curious and respectful of the different crafts, while demonstrating experience and potential that is lost on the current context.

Thierry and him start hanging out and quickly acknowledge that they are meant to take each other to the next level. They go on long drives, day dreaming about launching a studio with the talented friends they met in recent years.

Now with the distant goal of starting a studio in mind, Thierry keeps an eye out for talent in other crafts who seem cut from the same cloth as the ones he already knows. He sees Michaël working on his pixel art personal project during lunch one day and introduces himself!

Sclout posts a picture with him on Facebook. Thierry asks about it because of the GameBoy label, which leads him to discovering chiptune dance metal.

He finds it so catchy that he adds "And Rainbowdragoneyes (Eric) will make the music" to his daily daydream rant to Sclout about their future studio which, at this point, was still considered a fantasy.

Sclout, Fro and Thierry go to the show, hoping Eric will simply walk off after his set and be open to talking, which literally happens just like that. The conversation is very brief, and very promising.

Thierry: "Hey Eric, nice set."
Eric: "Hm-hm."
Thierry: "So... I've been a game developer for about 8 years..."
Eric: "I like where this is going."
Thierry: "And I'm starting this indie studio to make retro sty-"
Eric: "Yes I will make your music."

After giving the pitch, they learn of the one precondition to accepting the prize, which is for the company to be incorporated.

While NightShroud was a good placeholder, it didn't mean much. With the goal of accepting a cash prize to bootstrap the studio in sight, the brainstorm to name and officially found the company is on. They are looking for something that will work both in French and English, while also being an acknowledgement of the thing they bonded over other than gaming: punk-rock.

They quickly vote for Sabotage.