Since being founded in Paris in 1995, Sparx* has seen a tremendous journey of triumphs and pitfalls. From winning an Emmy and producing a Hollywood Blockbuster, to struggling in through Economic Crisis before being saved by Virtuos’ acquisition, Spark* celebrate their anniversary this year as a leading Game and Animation Studio in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
In this article we will do a deep-dive into their history, and look at why they are an essential part of the Games Industry today – so join us in celebrating Sparx* phenomenal thirty year lifespan!
Looking back at a 30 Year History of Sparx*
1995 – The Founding of Sparx*, a boutique animation studio
Sparx* was founded by Jean-Chrirstophe Bernard, Guillaume Hellouin, and Fabrice Giger in Paris, France, in 1995. Thirty years ago nobody would have predicted that this specialist animation studio would later become one of the worlds leading game art and animation powerhouses. At the time, they existed to push the boundaries of 3D Animation mainly in TV and Film at a time when the technology was still young.
Early 2000s – High Notes and Emmy Awards
Quickly hitting their stride, Sparx* established themselves as a real creative force when collaborating with Canadian studio Nelvana in the early 2000’s with their work on Rolie Polie Olie. The Children’s series grew to levels of fame and recognition, winning them a Daytime Emmy Award as well as a Gemini Award.
2002 – Opening in Vietnam
Scalability and cost-efficiency became an important prioritisation for the growing studio, Sparx*, and in 2002 they opened their new studio in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Whilst a far-throw from their HQ in Paris, the decision made sense, given that HCMC had a French Training Center for Vietnamese artists and was a growing economy for developing animators. Also, obviously, the costs of resources locally was much more competitive. This early development would later be the strong foundation of over 500 employees that Sparx* utilizes today.
2008 – Financial Crisis, and Hollywood Feature: Igor
In 2008 Sparx* released its first fully animated feature film, Igor, that included stars like John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, and John Cleese! Personally, this is a film I remember fondly from childhood, however the reviews were mixed and it was only a moderate success commercially. Unfortunately, the film release timed alongside the Global Financial Crisis, where like most Studios during this time, the cracks started to show at Sparx*.
2008 – 2010 – Struggles and Shutdowns
The economic crisis forced difficult decisions at Sparx*, who now had multiple Global offices hosting hundreds of employees. The founding studio in Paris was the first to close in 2008, then by 2010 both the US office and Vietnam Office closed too. Only a hollowed out shell of Sparx* remained with an entity in Shanghai queitly holding on.
2011 – Virtuos Acquisition
Just as things looked dire for the remnants of Sparx*, Virtuos – a Global Game Development Powerhouse, most recently in the spotlight for their Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remaster – stepped in. They saw potential in the Vietnam team and acquired Sparx* in 2011, re-opening the Ho Chi Minh City Studio not long after it “closed”. And so, a new chapter began for Sparx*, A Virtuos Studio.
Post-2011 – From Animation to Game Art
With Virtuos now at the helm, Sparx* saw a period of evolution and elevation in their skills. The animation studio shifted into 2D and 3D Game art and full-service production, aligning with Virtuos’ own global ambitions. A real win for Sparx* in this period was where they had the opportunity to handle a full three seasons of Star Wars Rebels: producing full episodes. This stand-out project defined them pre-Covid, and meant they could return to the Global Stage with a bang.
2018 – New Identities for Virtuos and Sparx*
By 2018, Virtuos repositioned itself as a truly Global company, moving headquarters to Singapore. This meant bigger ambitions for Sparx*, too, as the Vietnam studio began placing more emphasis on the video games industry, working on AAA titles with the support of Virtuos’ international network. By the end of 2018 Sparx* had already contibuted to games like Fallout 4, Black Ops 4, The Elder Scrolls Online, Deus Ex, and NBA 2K18. And this was still only the beginning…
2018 – 2020 Games, Games, and more Games
The winds had now shifted. Virtuos as an entire group had repositioned itself as a global co-development leader, split regionally:
Asia would be the art production hub, Europe focusing on R&D, and the Americas/Japan handled concept and client services.
For Sparx*, they became one of the most critical and largest studios in Virtuos, with over 600 employees today, they exist not only as an animation and cinematic behemoth, but also run AAA Game development outsourcing work on characters, environments, and full pipelines.
2020 – 2022 The Pandemic Pivot
Covid-19 crippled the globe in this period, but Sparx* continued, with their existing experience in international collabroation they thrived working in remote pipelines. Sparx* worked with companies like Riot, Obsidian, Supermassive, and more during the Pandemic, and continued building on their end-to-end capabilities. No longer purely an art outsourcing company in Vietnam, Sparx* could now contribute to so much more.
2022-2023 – NFT Boom and a Temporary Struggle
Many art-focused studios were hit by the NFT boom, as new crazed funding poached talented artists from existing industries with the promise of super inflated salaries. Blockchain startups began to scoop up Vietnamese artists with stylized or 3D skillsets. This may have caused minor attrition at the time, but it ultimately fizzled out, and many professionals had to return to their old roles.
As Sparx* already knew, the value was in long-term growth, not short term hype.
2024-2025 – AAA and Virtuos Originals
Thirty years in and Sparx* is better than ever! One of Virtuos’ biggest and most productive studios, collaborating with local regional partners like Glass Egg, the wider company began entering a new phase:
As of 2023, Samuel Stevenin (GM of Sparx* at the time) confirmed that the group had built internal design capabilities, in cinematics, level building, and character work – as well as game design support. As of today, Virtuos offers full end-to-end co-development and original IP Partnerships, as well as making their own games with Virtuos Originals! We’ll go into the full service offering below:
Virtuos Current Offerings:
Virtuos Original: New initiative by the Group launched in 2023
Read more at: Virtuos is now making, but not publishing, original games
Co-dev: A set of services by Virtuos that helps studios build a full game: Adaptation / Post-Launch Content / Gameplay & Design / Game & IP Development
Read more at: Game Development Services | Virtuos
End-to-end: A specific model that allows external developers like Virtuos takes on a large portion, or the whole pipeline, of the game development process – which offers developers the ease of working with just one partner, rather than managing multiple vendors.
Read more at: Making games faster, more cost-effectively, with end-to-end development | GamesIndustry.biz
Cinematics / Level Design / Characters: The 3 key end-to-end services (not all) that Sparx* delivers.
Read more at: End-to-End Game Art, Game Design & CGI Solutions
Sparx* An Essential Pillar in Vietnam’s Industry
Vietnam GameVerse is coming up later this week, and it would be wrong to not include a section highlighting Sparx* contributions to Vietnams wider industry.
At the core of Sparx* there has always been a deep commitment to training junior talent, the company was originally founded in Vietnam due to the training centers in HCMC, so they have always been deeply reliant on the growing talent-pool of Vietnamese developers and artists.
Universities in Vietnam are still developing game design curriculums, which Sparx* works around by using extensive in-house training programs. The local resources for education are by no means comparable to those in the US or Europe, however the attitudes to learning are much more respected in Vietnamese culture. The ‘Teacher’ is an incredibly well revered figure.
Many of the artists in Vietnam originally came from design and architecture backgrounds – experienced in AutoCAD or Marketing, Sparx* would bring them in as paid interns (I want to highlight, this is not the norm!) and trained them over a 2 year period before moving to full-time. The studio uses Virtuos’ global network to bring in expert speakers from companies like Unreal or Autodesk to run sessions with their team.
As a result, Sparx* is a leading premier provider of art and game development in Vietnam, as well as a major contributor to its maturity as an industry.
Looking at the next thirty years
Sparx* office in HCMC was -awesome- with a long wall that wrapped around the corners of the room displaying all of the titles they have contributed to. Their journey is one of resilience in the face of adversity, and constant adaptation and development in broadening what they offer a studio.
A thirty year lifespan is something to be celebrated, especially in the current Industry climate, where we see hundreds of shutdowns and closures.
Sparx* – with thanks to Virtuos – have kept afloat time and time again, each time growing in expertise. They are, without a doubt, one of the biggest and most impressive forces of development that Vietnam has, and we’re so excited to see what another thirty years could bring!
Read more about Vietnam’s industry!