France has inducted three game designers into its prestigious Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Literature) as chevaliers, or knights. The inductees are Peter Molyneux (Populous and Black & White), Eric Viennot (Missing) and Antoine Villette (Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare), writes Wired.

To nurture such cultural achievements, France also signed into law generous tax breaks for videogames made on French soil.

Many consider Japan and North America as the sources of major influence in the gaming world; but France is a heavy influencer, as well, as home to gaming giants Infogrames and Ubisoft and with a history of being innovative.

"It's important that videogames become part of the 'exception culturelle' with a system in place to finance and support the creation of videogames, as a modern-day equivalent of government support that helped save French cinema after the war," said author Stephane Natkin.