By 2016, mobile screens will have seized power over men. There will be 10 billion smartphones, tablets and laptop computers, permanently connected to the internet, compared to 7.3 billion human beings.
The digital revolution has given rise to "Homo Ludicus". Three billion hours are spent gaming every week worldwide. It is now possible to play 24 hours a day, anywhere, anytime, and on any platform. And contrary to popular belief, it is not young male geeks who comprise the majority of gamers. The average gamer today is a mother in her forties – the counterpart of the "housewife under 50" who was the holy grail for TV advertisers last century.
The video game industry has triumphed. Thirty years ago, video games were simply perceived as another form of entertainment, a mere component of an emerging, marginal counter-culture. But in just one generation, video games have become the 21st century’s dominant cultural industry. To understand how this global phenomenon works, Jérôme Fritel and Olivier Heckmann investigate a business that has outshined Hollywood studios both economically and artistically, a business that directly influences cultural trends all over the world.
Direction: Jérôme Fritel
Production: Bonne Compagnie for ARTE France