 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder | Roland Oskian |
| Defunct | October 2005 |
| Fate | Merged into Mindscape |
| Headquarters | , France |
| Parent |
|
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.
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]
| 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 | Adibou Et L'Ombre Verte |
| 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 |
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Roberta Lynn Williams is an American video game designer and writer, who co-founded Sierra On-Line with her husband, game developer Ken Williams. In 1980, her first game, Mystery House, became a modest commercial success; it is credited as the first graphic adventure game. She is also known for creating and maintaining the King's Quest series, as well as designing the full motion video game Phantasmagoria in 1995.
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Méwilo is a 1987 French adventure video game by Coktel Vision.
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