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PLAYING HARD

Directed by Jean-Simon Chartier

  • “An intimate window into the extraordinary.”
    CBC
  • “A remarkable achievement... Things like this aren't suppose to happen.”
    In the Seats

The game just got real. In one of the world’s biggest video game studios, a constantly growing team works on the creation of “For Honor”, a blockbuster game where Vikings, knights, and samurai fight on an epic battlefield where only one will survive.

The game is the dream of Creative Director Jason Vandenberghe, who after more than 10 years has his ultimate passion project greenlit inside the highly-competitive Ubisoft Studios. Backed by Producer Stéphane Cardin, whose last project was pulled, they both seek professional redemption by creating and launching a game that needs to sell several millions of copies in its first months on the market. Joining them in this formidable quest is Luc Duchesne, whose responsibility as marketing director is to create an original and unique brand from scratch. But surviving the human drama and tremendous pressure involved in creating a blockbuster video game is more than any of them could have imagined.

Each year, the number of studios able to produce AAA games diminishes. At Ubisoft Montreal, the 2,700 employees work on 15 different projects simultaneously. It is an ant colony of designers, developers, and managers, and a fierce competition exists between them. Many of these projects will never be produced and are killed before they can see the light of the day. But for Jason, “For Honor” is more than another game, it’s an expression of his personal philosophy with origins in his childhood being bullied by other kids. Video games to him are the ultimate way to channel anger and aggression into creativity.

Four years in the making, Jason risks professional relationships to protect the integrity of his creative vision, while his team endure personal crises due to the enormous demands of convincing their superiors in Montreal, the head office in Paris, and the marketing department in San Francisco that the money they put into “For Honor” is a profitable investment.

From Montreal to Los Angeles, through Moscow to Tokyo, PLAYING HARD offers unprecedented access to a highly secret world where a few game designers are shaping an entertainment industry that has now become the biggest in the world. If the game is the engine of the film, the characters and their own personal quests are the heart, making it an intense and emotional and intimate exploration of what happens when the game gets real. Directed by Jean-Simon Chartier.

"Playing Hard in Polygon" In The Press
Polygon: Candid documentary about For Honor’s development hits NetflixMORE +
Motherboard: "A drama-packed and necessary look at the toll that making a video game takes on those who do the work"MORE +
Jeaucapt on PLAYING HARD: "Poignant"MORE +
Global News: "A unique behind-the-scenes look into the heart of the gigantic video game industry...powerful."MORE +
Radio Canada on PLAYING HARD: "A documentary of a very high quality."MORE +
Journal De Montreal: "Playing Hard addresses the philosophical dimension of games and the entertainment industry."MORE +
Le Devoir on PLAYING HARD: "An exploration of personal and psychological challenges ... of a sometimes ruthless world."MORE +
CJLO: "PLAYING HARD shows the human side behind the game-making process"MORE +
Nightmarish Conjurings: "PLAYING HARD is slick, and immensely watchable"MORE +
Tranquil Dreams: "PLAYING HARD is a bittersweet journey"MORE +
Geeks and Com: "PLAYING HARD offers unprecedented access to a highly secretive world... We attend the theater involved in creating a videogame."MORE +
CBC Arts: "Playing Hard offers an intimate window into the extraordinary"MORE +
Sceen Creek on Playing Hard : "Story telling is top-form... Chartier brings the film past a barebones “behind the scenes” doc and presents something entirely human."MORE +
The Star : "PLAYING HARD offers a rare peak under the video game hood"MORE +
Realscreen on PLAYING HARD: "Egos and artistry collide... everything rides on the epic battle game hitting the jackpot"MORE +
Northern Stars: "A film about dreams realized and dreams crushed... PLAYING HARD is eye-opening"MORE +
Hyes Musings: "PLAYING HARD is unprecedented."MORE +
Wylie Writes: PLAYING HARD is "engaging and well paced."MORE +
The Mutt: PLAYING HARD follows four-year development of Ubisoft’s For HonorMORE +
Digital Journal: "PLAYING HARD is a cohesive look behind the curtain of game development."MORE +
Canadian Geek Cast: Podcast discussion on Playing Hard MORE +
The Gate: "Given the notoriously top secret nature of the video game industry, it’s a miracle that Chartier was able to make Playing Hard at all."MORE +
Exclaim: "PLAYING HARD is a sprawling behind-the-scenes account of how the game For Honor went from idea to massive Ubisoft release in 2017."MORE +
Toronto.com on PLAYING HARD: 22 movies to watch at Hot Docs MORE +
One Movie Our Reviews: "PLAYING HARD is an engaging look at the work that goes into making a video game"MORE +
In the Seats on PLAYING HARD: "A remarkable achievement... Things like this aren't suppose to happen."MORE +
NOW TORONTO: "PLAYING HARD is a whirl of team meetings, motion-capture sessions, trailer footage, convention launches, promotional tours and celebrity events."MORE +

© 2017 CARGO FILM & RELEASING