New Tales
Lyon, FR · 2 known investors
Find your way into New Tales
New Tales is an independent video game publisher that partners with game studios and develops its own game IPs, offering go-to-market and community marketing services. It also operates an internal development studio, Emeteria, based in Lyon, France, working on an Action-Adventure RPG.
Also known as NEW TALES
Founders & leadership
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026New Tales is a Paris-based video game developer, publisher and game operator founded by industry veterans with backgrounds at Blizzard Entertainment, Activision Blizzard, Vivendi Games, Ubisoft, SEGA, LucasArts and Sierra. The company operates on two tracks: providing international publishing, operations and community-development services for external development teams, and creating its own new intellectual property through internal studios.
The leadership team consists of Cédric Maréchal (President and CEO), previously International Senior Vice-President at Activision Blizzard with roughly three decades in the industry across Blizzard, Vivendi Games, SEGA and Cryo; Benoit Dufour (Chief Operating Officer), a former International Vice President of Activision Blizzard with about 25 years of experience in finance, business intelligence, publishing strategy and esports; and Emmanuel Obert (Chief Content Officer), a former EMEA Director at Blizzard with an earlier career at Ubisoft and in tabletop RPGs, who oversees content and creative development. Delphine Le Corre, previously Senior Director EMEA at Blizzard, was a founder and Chief Growth Officer before withdrawing for health reasons. Kim Gresko (ex-LucasArts), Ray Gresko (ex-Blizzard Global Chief Development Officer) and Julia Humphreys (ex-Overwatch Production Director at Blizzard) joined as senior advisers for game development. Collectively the founding group averages around 22 years of industry experience and has worked on franchises including World of Warcraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Sonic the Hedgehog, EverQuest, Jedi Knight, Half-Life and Counter-Strike.
Founding story
The founders, who had known each other for over 20 years, decided to start the company during a heavy restructuring period at Activision Blizzard. Having financial stability, they took a step back to reassess their careers and chose to build a modern game publisher inspired by the spirit of Blizzard EMEA around 2004 and by their experience growing large IPs and player communities.
Business model
New Tales combines two activities: publishing and operating games made by third-party development teams, and developing its own games and intellectual property through internal studios. It presents its publishing offering as a one-stop-shop solution in which it works alongside external developers as a single team, and positions itself as an International Game Operator and Community Development House.
Traction
The company's launch announcement generated more than 300 articles worldwide. By mid-2024 it had grown to roughly 30 employees, with multiple partner relationships and several games in its pipeline.
Latest developments
As of June 2024 the company reported around 30 team members, a growing portfolio of games and partners, and several games in the pipeline. It was profiled by investor BITKRAFT Ventures in a founder spotlight published that month.
▸Full profile — market position, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
New Tales positions itself as an international game operator, publisher and community development house serving developers who need global publishing support, while also building first-party IP through internal studios.
The company's stated differentiators are the seniority and shared history of its founding team — executives who worked together for more than two decades at Blizzard and Activision Blizzard on large global franchises — and its experience building and operating player communities at international scale, which it applies both to partner titles and to its own IP.
Go-to-market
New Tales markets itself to external development studios as an international publishing and operations partner covering worldwide publishing and services, while simultaneously building internal production capability for first-party titles.
External game development studios seeking international publishing, operations and community-building support, and, through its own titles, video game players worldwide.
Geography
Headquartered in Paris, France, with an international publishing and operations focus.
History
The company was established in Paris and publicly announced in January 2022 with a founding leadership team drawn from Blizzard, Activision Blizzard, Vivendi Games, Ubisoft, SEGA and LucasArts. At announcement it stated it was already working with publishing partners and building a production pipeline around a first internal IP. One of the four original founders, Delphine Le Corre, later withdrew from the company for health reasons, and the remaining three founders absorbed her responsibilities. By mid-2024 the company reported a team of about 30 people, several games in the pipeline and a growing portfolio of games and partners.
Compiled by commissioned research from 5 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsOne of the four original founders, Delphine, stepped back from the company due to serious health issues, with the remaining founders absorbing her operational responsibilities.
New Tales was established in Paris as a development studio and international games publisher by industry veterans from Blizzard, Activision, Ubisoft, SEGA, LucasArts and Sierra. Founding team included Cedric Marechal (President & CEO), Benoit Dufour (COO), Delphine Le Corre (Chief Growth Officer) and Emmanuel Obert (Chief Content Officer), with Kim Gresko, Ray Gresko and Julia Humphreys as senior advisers for game development. At launch the company said it was working with publishing partners and building internal production capabilities around its first IP.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 5
primary sources listed
- BITKRAFT Founder Spotlight: New Tales - BITKRAFT Venturesbitkraft.vc · web
5 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does New Tales do?
- Paris-based game developer, publisher and operator founded in 2022 by Blizzard and Activision veterans.
- Who are New Tales's investors?
- New Tales's investors include Bitkraft Esports Ventures, Sisu Game Ventures.
- Where is New Tales headquartered?
- New Tales is headquartered in Lyon, FR.