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TrackMania
Digital creation
Work

2 min

A Trackmania competition as part of Novembre Numérique 2023

The Trackmania series of video games has been delighting fans of racing and designing motor racing circuits since 2003. This craze has reached new heights since the famous French streamer Zerator organised the first Trackmania Cup, a competition now being exported internationally. To coincide with Novembre Numérique 2023, the celebration of digital cultures organised by the Institut français, a Trackmania competition is being held from 7 to 16 November by the Instituts français in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and the French Embassy in Iceland. 

© Ubisoft Nadeo
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An iconic French video game series

Developed by the studio Nadeo, founded in 2000 by Florent Castelnérac and Pascal Hérold, and published by Ubisoft, the Trackmaniaseries features nearly twenty instalments. Based around the creation and sharing of racetracks, which players can create and try out freely, the series was very popular with the gaming community from the start. The series gained new notoriety in the e-sport era, thanks in particular to the Trackmania Cup, a competition organised by streamer Zerator and broadcast on the Twitch platform, which now attracts dozens of professional players. 

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Creativity and breakneck speeds

Trackmania offers both a simple formula and a game that is at least as addictive as it is challenging. An extremely comprehensive creation system allows players to create personalised courses using a system of blocks. On the menu: loops, glides and a myriad of obstacles that require precision driving. Drivers don't race each other directly in Trackmania, instead they try to achieve the best possible time. The gameplay demands great concentration and an in-depth knowledge of each circuit. 

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The renaissance of Trackmania

In 2013, streamer Zerator, who has 1.5 million subscribers on Twitch, organised the first Trackmania Cup on his channel. In this format he creates live tracks in front of his audience on which racers compete, including semi-professional players specialising in the game. During the competition, he comments on each race with a theatricality and enthusiasm that have contributed to the success of the series and allowed it to be rediscovered by a new generation of gamers. Since then, a fully-fledged e-sport scene has grown up around Trackmania, with its own stars, such as Canadian CarlJr. 

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An international competition

Initially taking place online, then in a number of prestigious venues including the Lyon Convention Centre and the Zeniths in Lyon and Strasbourg, the Trackmania Cup moved to the Accor Arena in Paris in 2022. This was an opportunity to deploy an increasingly sophisticated stage design for a sold out event with high audience ratings. To mark the occasion, the French President decided to bring together a large number of e-sport players at the Elysée Palace. Trackmania is also being exported to the Nordic countries for a competition organised by the French cultural network abroad as part of Novembre Numérique 2023. 

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The Institut français

Novembre Numérique, the festival of digital culture, celebrates its seventh edition in 2023! 

Throughout November, the French cultural network and its partners will be showcasing digital creation in all its forms at a wide range of events across the globe. 

Find out more about Novembre Numérique 2023