He's a serial entrepreneur. He likes to point out that there are three billion gamers in the world today, making it one of the largest markets. After several successful experiments, Cross the Ages, a trading card game to be downloaded onto mobile phones, is "the project of my life". "I've put all my experience, my mistakes and my successes into it," explains Sami Chlagou. Launched in 2020, the project quickly aroused the curiosity of the largest groups: Seventy investors raised 12 million euros in just one month.
Cross the Ages is more than just a game with NFT (non-fungible token) digital cards. It is an 'IP', an intellectual property with a series of creations that form an entire universe. While the game has enjoyed rapid success around the world, Africa has not been left behind. "In record time, Cross the Ages has been downloaded more than 15,000 times in North Africa," says Sami Chlagou, whose parents are both Tunisian.
And he promises a targeted communication campaign for Africa in 2024. "In particular, the game will be lightened up to make it lighter and less voracious. And therefore easier to download on a weak connection. Africans are keen to download games to their mobile phones. According to the GSM Association, some 272 million people south of the Sahara play games on smartphones. This figure is expected to rise to 475 million by 2025.
“We don’t sell anything, it’s a system that feeds on itself”
He is already the founding president of Free Agent and the creator of the Rushongame.com platform, the leading private sales site for video games, with a turnover of 10 million euros in 2019, as well as the head of the Pixelheart studio, owner of several dozen games. He is also a film producer with an award-winning film (Stand, by Jonathan Taïeb, 2015). These are all businesses that generate a lot of cash flow and have enabled the CEO to put together the Pharaonic saga.
The card game, which combines chess and go, is "not for the general public, but for a niche market". It is based on a sophisticated system. "It is very hard to perform, to remember and to add up, you have to really think and anticipate. Players who make the effort and take the time are rewarded with valuable cards. These are then sold to other players who are less active, but more "collectors". It's a virtuous circle, supported by the blockchain, connecting those with time and talent with those with money. "We don't sell anything, it's a system that feeds on itself," says Sami Chlagou.
Marseille in the spotlight
The other special feature of Cross the Ages is its dystopia: a science fiction saga divided into several volumes. "We have signed a ten-year contract with some of the best writers and artists in the world. They come from Game of Thrones, Harry Potter...". Initially available as digital downloads, the books have since been published by Hachette in France and translated into fourteen languages. "Through a fantastic story, we ask ourselves how economic intelligence will control the world, even before Chat GPT. We describe a new technology that will escape human control. It anticipates and calculates... A far from Manichean portrait of our times. We take it upon ourselves to offer a cerebral game to lift people's spirits and encourage them to read".
For this adopted Marseillais, Cross the Ages is also an opportunity to discover the city of Marseille. "We used to live in Paris, but my parents moved to Marseille when I was in secondary school. After a BTS in computer science and a bachelor's degree, Sami Chlagou joined the Luminy campus of the KEDGE business school. "Then I became a casual worker in the entertainment industry. In particular, I worked with the production team of the TV series Plus belle la vie. After several entrepreneurial experiences, in 2016 he met Richard Esteve, a PhD in geopolitics with a specialization in finance. He became the co-founder of Cross the Ages.
Today, the company employs sixty permanent staff and works with 110 associates. The latest episode in this surprising saga was the international e-sport tournament held in Marseille on December 9 and 10. "We plan to turn this tournament into an annual festival, again in Marseille, where it all began", warns Sami Chlagou.
