Oskar Guilbert from Strasbourg at the helm of a flagship of French video games
This is one of the greatest stories of French video games. Founded in 2008, Don’t Nod is now one of the heavyweights in the field, dividing its activities between game development and publishing (a first title, Gerda A Flame in Winter, was released in 2022). The studio is particularly credited with the successes Life is Strange, Vampyr, Tell Me Why and Twin Mirror.
No surprise to fans, at the head of the company is Oskar Guilbert, who has everything to do with… Strasbourg. Originally from Poland and arriving in Alsace at the age of 11, the studio boss actually grew up in the Eurometropolis, in Schiltigheim. “I attended the Leclerc College and then the Kléber High School (degree C) in Strasbourg, where I then moved to the Krutenau side. » His higher education also took place in the Alsatian capital: in addition to evening courses in drawing and painting, he also took evening courses in drawing and painting at the arts and crafts school. “I studied mathematics and computer science, right up to my doctoral thesis.” I then taught at the university for two years before receiving an offer from Criterion -Studio and went to London and then to Paris, where I took care of the Renderware game engine.
He left the region eight years before the Don’t Nod adventure, in 2000. “But my heart is always a little attached to Strasbourg,” adds Oskar Guilbert, who regularly returns to the city to recharge his batteries.