Player ID: The horror pioneer in video games, Frederic Raynal

If his name is less well known than that of Michel Ancel, Frédérick Raynal has as much influence as Rayman’s author among French video game characters. Originally from Brive-la-Gaillarde, he was one of the first to put the country on the map of areas to rely on when it comes to gaming. We owe him the Alone In The Dark and Little Big Adventure series, which are now part of the global video game scene. She is definitely one of the pioneers in horror video games. Let’s talk about the life of this wise man who nevertheless has an enormous impact on the environment.

Born in 1966, Frédéric Raynal was interested in computers from an early age, particularly through his father, who opened a dedicated computer store when young Frédéric was not yet 12 years old. Because of this family legacy, he began taking electronics lessons at the age of 12, before progressing to computer science when he was quite a teenager. At this age, young Korez began creating games for himself, including a game called Laser for ZX81. So, while computing is still in its infancy (we’re still in the early 80’s), young Raynal becomes a computer enthusiast.

Once he finished his studies, he started producing graphics and became known for his work on PopCorn, a brick-breaking game that has become a cult. Then he met Bruno Bonell, who was then CEO of Infogrammes, which gave him the opportunity to create a game from the ground up. This is how Alone in The Dark, considered the first horror game in history, was born in 1992. An insane legacy in the world of video games, where famous creators like Shinji Mikami have been able to point out that they were inspired by the game for their own work (Resident Evil in particular). It is also the first game to use real 3D characters, in static 2D settings. finally, He left Infogrammes to found his own company, Adeline Software Internation, which launched his first game two years later: Little Big Adventure. Since then, Raynal has been more conservative in the video game world, but his influence is still decisive for the medium, particularly by allowing 3D to take over the dominant position.