The French minister for culture and transport, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, has announced plans to bolster France’s videogames output, promising significant investment in the sector in the coming year.

Indeed, a pledge of 4 million Euros has been made in an attempt to generate enhanced development and publishing output in the country.

This news will not be welcomed with open arms by the rest of the gaming world, with the scarring of the last ravages still stinging in certain quarters. The outfit that now carries the Atari brand saw massive expansion that was ill-conceived in the extreme, seeing job losses in significant numbers throughout the UK. Another offender is Titus, which again went overboard in terms of acquisitions, again seeing significant job losses.

Both firms saw major investment from the French government during the tech-boom era.

We’ll keep you informed of any further news on this matter; it should be interesting to see if any new publishers and developers appear in the near future.