Lucid Dreams Studio (LDS) has just become the ninth company to join specialist video game accelerator/incubator Indie Asylum. However, unlike Young Films, which are other members, the independent Sherbrooke studio has been around since January 2017.
“In 2019, we first met Indie Asylum’s co-founders, Christopher Chancey and Pascal Nataf,” says Maxime Grégoire, co-founder and CEO. They immediately showed their desire to help us. We saw that the Indie Asylum studio was successful and wanted to be a part of it. In addition, the partnership seemed natural to us because of our shared values and ability to help each other. Finally, we saw this as a great opportunity to create Quebec intellectual property and generate wealth here rather than elsewhere for foreign companies. »
Pay in advance
That’s why LDS joins the group to take advantage of the many benefits offered. “Indie Asylum has expertise in commercialization and marketing, among other things,” says Chris Chance. In particular, we have Purple is Royal, an agency that specializes in video game marketing. “With the release of our BIOMORPH game in 2023, that kind of knowledge will come in handy,” adds Francis Lapierre, LDS Co-Founder and CTO.
On that topic, the first trailer for BIOMORPH is available here. You can follow news about the game on its STEAM page. LDS was also at Gamescom in Germany from August 24th to 28th to present the first images and a playable demo. BIOMORPH is an identity exploration game where the central character evolves by controlling a number of monsters that he must first defeat.
That said, Francis Lapierre and Maxime Grégoire are also keen to contribute to the development of other studios at Indie Asylum. “For five years, we have built a network of contacts that young organizations do not yet have. Likewise, since we started Legends of Ethernal, we have experienced production and management issues, and we will be able to share these experiences with other members. »
See you in 10 years
Although five years old, LDS has existed in the minds of its two creators since they met in 2003 at university. Both physics students quickly discovered a common passion, video games. After branching out into computer engineering and before their career paths intersected at AAA studios, the two friends agreed to team up after 10 years to found their own video game studio.
This is what happened in January 2017 with the birth of LDS, a company that combines their business ideals both in terms of products created with Quebec intellectual property and in terms of organizational structure. Thus, a rather rare phenomenon in the video game industry, there are more women than men in the team, including in managerial positions.
Internally, the roles of each person are well defined. This means that everyone becomes the owner of some part of the game, so each individual brings their own color and way of being, all in the service of the game.
I want to continue
With a workforce of around ten, LDS specializes in 2D games, a choice that is part of a desire for sustainability. “We want to become a benchmark in this field,” says Maxime Grigoir. 2D ages well and remains visually pleasing.”
As for the content, the two entrepreneurs are betting on games where science and fantasy come together. “This genre has been around for a long time, but we’ve perfected it with the goal of being among the best in the world,” says Frances Lapierre. The character doesn’t just struggle, because during his odyssey he discovers who he is, where he comes from, why he has certain powers, etc. In addition, his epic, which includes a game of twenty hours, makes it take place in a fallen modern world where life is harsh. In the end, all this allows him to know who he really is. »
That’s good news for a studio that already gave us the 2D adventure game Legends of Ethernal, and which is making a “ghost-like” biomorph that you can add to your wishlist on Steam.
