Focus Entertainment / Focus Home Interactive

Focus Entertainment / Focus Home Interactive is a developer and publisher.

Focus Entertainment / Focus Home Interactive Webpage, Facebook

An independent video game publisher based in Paris, France. Focus Entertainment (formerly known as Focus Home Interactive) operates in the PC and console market – its portfolio includes sports and simulation games as well as action, strategy and RPG titles.

The history of Focus Entertainment

The beginning and early triumphs

Focus Home Interactive was founded in 1996. Initially, there was little indication of the company's future direction – suffice it to say that its first success was the release of eJay, a computer software for creating music. In 2000, its owners decided to enter the video game market as a distributor and publisher in France. They hit the bull's-eye with this move – thanks to Focus Home Interactive, not only niche titles (such as the Virtual Skipper brand) hit store shelves, but also popular titles like the Runaway series, Cossacks and Sudden Strike.

The following years were marked by further triumphs. Focus Home Interactive launched the Pro Cycling Manager series and TrackMania. 2006 also saw the release of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakening – a success so significant that the adventures of the famous detective became a staple in the company's catalog.

Entering the global publishing market

Focus Home Interactive reached an important milestone in 2009 when the company officially entered the global publishing market, becoming a publisher and distributor of PC and console games. Its publishing portfolio quickly expanded and included titles from all around the world. These included games by: Spiders Studio (Mars: War Logs, Bound by Flame, The Technomancer), Cyanide Studio (Blood Bowl series, Of Orcs and Men, Styx series), and Giants Software (Farming Simulator franchise), as well as games from independent developers such as Space Hulk: Deathwing (developed by Streum on Studio), Vampyr (created by DONTNOD Entertainment), and The Surge (developed by Deck13 Interactive, co-creator of the critically acclaimed Lords of the Fallen). Meanwhile, in 2010, the company acquired the rights to the Cities XL franchise from Monte Cristo Studio. The acquisition resulted in three productions developed by Monte Cristo's internal development team: Cities XL 2011, Cities XL 2012 and Cities XXL. However, none of them were able to push themselves forward. Cities XXL was met with a lukewarm reception from players, as evidenced by its negative reviews on Steam.

In the following years, Focus Home Interactive could not complain though. High sales were recorded for A Plague Tale: Innocence, GreedFall, The Surge series and the Spintires series. However, in September 2019, the company came into conflict with the Frogwares studio. After their publishing agreement expired, Focus Home Interactive refused to return the rights to sell these titles to the Ukrainian developers, arguing that this is due to a change in their publishing policy. Shortly thereafter, all games were removed from digital distribution.

Intense growth

Despite everything, Focus Home Entertainment continued to grow rapidly and more and more studios came under their wing. In June 2020, Focus Home Interactive acquired the Deck13 Interactive team for €7.1 million, while in April 2021, the French company became the owner of Streum on Studio – the team that delivered Space Hulk: Deathwing and Necromunda: Hired Gun. However, April 2021 brought bad news. GIANTS Software studio has announced Farming Simulator 22. As it turned out, this was to be the first major installment of this bestselling series since 2012 that would not be published by Focus Home Entertainment; the developers decided to self-publish it. In August 2021, Focus Home Interactive grew stronger once again. The French publisher announced that it has acquired a 77.5% stake in the Dotemu studio, thus becoming its new owner. In addition, it was revealed that the company intends to establish a new branch dedicated to publishing independent games. Cyrille Imbert, who has been managing the Dotemu studio since October 2014, was to take over its management.

Name change

In September 2021, news broke that Focus Home Interactive was changing its name. From now on, the publisher was to be known as Focus Entertainment. This decision was dictated by the intention to better represent the desire to diversify games, products, and services, and to emphasize the ambition to offer players around the world unique experiences that go beyond the boundaries of video games. In October 2021, Focus Entertainment acquired Douze Dixiemes, the studio behind Shady Part of Me. In February 2022, the publisher announced that it had acquired Leikir Studio, whose portfolio included Rogue Lords and Metal Slug Tactics.

September 2022 brought news of Focus Entertainment acquiring Blackmill Games, a studio behind three multiplayer shooters set in World War I: Verdun, Tannenberg and Isonzo. In addition, 2022 was a year of game releases for Focus Entertainment, including the hit A Plague Tale: Requiem, Evil West, and the warmly received Blacktail.

In April 2023, Focus Entertainment continued its series of acquisitions; this time, it acquired Dovetail Games, a British studio known for the Train Simulator and Train Sim World series.

Changes in the company's structure

In late February 2024, Focus Entertainment announced a name change and restructuring plans. Effective April 1, 2024, the company was to be known as PulluP Entertainment. Additionally, three main business divisions were established under its wing. While Focus Entertainment Publishing was to publish AA games, Dotem was to produce and publish retro games and Development Studios was to unite the company's development teams: Dovetail Games, Deck13 Interactive, Blackmill Games, Leikir Studio, Streum on Studio, Douze Dixiemes and Carpool Studio.

September 2024 also saw the release of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, which was a huge commercial and artistic success. Suffice it to say, its sales figures quickly surpassed those of all Warhammer 40,000 games released in 2023 combined, as evidenced by "very positive" reviews on Steam and ratings from industry media, with an average Metacritic score of 82-83/100.

In June 2025, it was announced that the Streumon Studio devs had purchased their shares, thus returning to being an independent team. At the time, it was unclear whether the two companies would continue their current partnership.