AMA - Why Making Tour de France Is a Race Against Time

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the very first AMA dedicated to the Tour de France video game!

First, before we dive in, we believe it’s important to recall the context of the creation of the Tour de France game, as it shapes many of the answers to the questions.

Tour de France operates under a very tight time constraint: no delay in the release date is acceptable. This might seem obvious, but a simple delay of a week or two can have a significant impact on the game's finish.

To avoid any catastrophes, we plan for large safety margins, which sometimes forces us to spread the integration of certain new features over several years rather than risk missing the release.

To summarize, here’s a simplified schedule of the development cycle of a TDF:

Although this is a summary, this development cycle is quite faithful to reality: it particularly shows that the time allocated for new features cannot exceed four months, which is very short and significantly limits iteration possibilities.

The second point to keep in mind is the size of the development team.

The team is made up of individuals who work on both TDF and PCM:

1 project manager, responsible for the planning of both games
1 technical director, ensuring technical consistency to avoid redundancy
4 level designers, dedicated to production, who then switch to PCM starting in February
2 to 3 3D artists working for both games (who, with the arrival of Unreal, will have fewer redundant tasks)
1 2D designer, split 50% between TDF and PCM
1 AI programmer, responsible for the race gameplay of both games
2 quality testers, ensuring game stability and preventing bugs or crashes
1 community manager, working closely with the one at NACON.

Another part is 100% dedicated to TDF (although there are still interactions and idea exchanges with PCM):

1 game designer
2 to 3 programmers tasked with integrating new features.

Overall, the production team consists of 15 people, but not all are 100% dedicated to TDF. Some aspects of the game are outsourced, such as sound design and video creation. We also benefit from support from an external team of testers.

Finally, the integration of Unreal Engine was handled by another team of 3D specialists, working in parallel with the development of previous games (see Devblog).

[h2]The Community Manager on Cyanide's side:[/h2]

Alongside their work with NACON, the studio’s CM ensures a daily presence on all platforms where PCM and TDF players are active.

They respond to messages (emails, social media, forums, Discord), moderate servers, track reported bugs, update the studio's social media with relevant content (videos, screenshots), participate in community live events, and relay official information. They also coordinate player feedback with production teams while keeping an eye on the smooth operation of multiplayer/online games.

[h2]The Marketing Product Manager[/h2]

The Marketing Product Manager for Tour de France and Pro Cycling Manager is the conductor: they don't develop the game, but they define the marketing and communication strategy to maximize visibility. They act as a liaison between NACON’s teams (community management, press, licensing, production) and Cyanide.

Of course, we are talking about the marketing team, but we are more numerous on the project. In total, there are 7 full-time people working on the project on NACON’s side. This includes the following roles: Production, Marketing Product Manager, Licensing, Press Relations, Community Manager, and QA.

[h3]What are their tasks?[/h3]

From the start of the project, they identify key new features to highlight (e.g., new graphics engine in 2025), analyze past releases and competitors, and then define the target audiences, goals, and annual marketing strategy with the Community Manager.

They choose the visuals (riders featured, trailers, key arts), plan the communication (announcements, ad campaigns), and approve all content with Cyanide, the artists, the video team, and licensing. Responsible for the advertising budget, they choose the channels (YouTube, social media, specialized media).

Finally, they present the game to the international sales teams to ensure its availability and visibility in stores (Micromania, Carrefour, GameStop…).

[h3]A coordinator's role: [/h3]

The Product Manager is at the heart of promoting TDF and PCM, working closely with Cyanide and stakeholders. No material is released without validation.

[h2]The Role of the Community Manager:[/h2]

No, a CM doesn’t just “post on social media” – far from it! 🙂

For Tour de France and Pro Cycling Manager, the Community Manager is the bridge between players, the marketing team, and Cyanide. From the start of the project, they develop the communication plan that will guide the entire year.

At NACON, they manage the games’ social media (this year, we’re also on Bluesky, join us!). They animate the Steam and PlayStation pages and co-administer the Discord server with Cyanide’s CM.

But that's not all: they also need to create content, record videos for TikTok, capture screenshots for communication materials, and know how to handle video editing and image retouching tools.

Finally, the CM plays a key intermediary role: they listen, collect, and convey player feedback across all platforms, to evolve the games in line with community expectations.

Will the game be available on Switch 2?

As of now, we cannot announce this. The console seems promising, but we haven't started development for it yet. The main issue is adapting the gameplay since the Joy-Cons do not have analog triggers.

Will women's cycling be added in the future?

This is a topic we are discussing internally, but it presents several challenges. Our discussions mainly focus on how to overcome these obstacles, rather than whether we want to add women's cycling. The answer is "yes," but the challenges are significant.

On one hand, we would need to create an entirely new 3D model for women, compatible with our animation and texturing technologies. The problem is that our male model is outdated, and it would need to be completely recreated to improve animation, textures, and other aspects. These are major challenges, not even considering the specifics to make women recognizable (such as ponytail hair, jewelry, etc.).

On the other hand, this would also require producing additional stages, a topic addressed in the next question.

We must also consider the economic aspect, with the uncertainty of whether players will embrace this novelty.

Will other Grand Tours (Giro & Vuelta) be added?
Will past Grand Tour stages be integrated?
Do you plan to replicate the road race course for the Paris Olympic Games?

Aside from the fact that we are the official game of the Tour de France, and our priority is to add ASO races, adding new content is quite complicated at the moment. Our stage creation tool (Stage Editor) is not fast enough to produce more stages during our production phase. This tool is still tied to the old game engine. A few years ago, it was decided not to invest in updating it because the goal is to develop a new stage editor under Unreal Engine.

This is a huge task, as complex and time-consuming as making the game run on UE5, with the risk of losing compatibility with all previous years’ stages.

Will the rider statistics system be reworked to better reflect form? (e.g., a scale from 0 to 100 or a rating from A to D)

This is a frequent discussion topic. No one really knows where the current 50-85 scale comes from. Redoing this system would be like jumping into the unknown. We know that it would probably break the game, with no certainty that it would bring a real improvement.

On TDF, it might be doable, but on PCM, with twenty years of development and countless lines of code, it would likely cause major errors.

Will weather conditions be introduced and affect gameplay (rain influencing descents, wind affecting the race)?

Due to time constraints, weather conditions are not being introduced this year. The new engine could definitely handle it, as we see in *PCM*. But unlike *PCM*, we want to create specific gameplay where the rider's control changes on wet roads. We don’t want simple passive statistics that make a rider stronger or weaker.

Will final sprint mechanics be improved for better sprint trains and tactics?

We are focusing on sprints this year, so that the trains are better organized, and the lead-out men no longer obstruct their leader when launching the sprint.

Will the overall race pace be slowed down for more realism?

Our data shows that we are close to realism on a race like the Tour de France. The flat stages are slightly faster than in reality, while the mountain stages are slightly slower. This comes from the game design choice to make flat stages less boring. Players also have a lot of influence on the pace depending on their play style.

Will the cyclist models (faces, expressions…) be improved?

This is planned in our mid-term roadmap, but facial expressions are not the priority. Our main goal is to first modernize the general appearance of the riders and make them more recognizable.

Will detailed maps of the final kilometers and climb profiles be available?

This is on our to-do list, but it is not a priority.

Will new race events (bike changes, railway crossings, shortened stages due to extreme weather) be added?

No, we believe that developing rare events like railway crossings is not worth the effort. Even bike changes, which are more common, are considered too costly to develop compared to how often they would be used. On the other hand, events related to extreme weather conditions are becoming more frequent, and we are starting to consider them for the coming years.

What are the long-term development goals for AI and Career Mode?

It’s difficult to establish long-term plans for AI. It’s a very fragile area. We are constantly trying to find a balance between realism and gameplay enjoyment.

We aim to align as closely as possible with what we see on TV, but what guides us above all are the players' feedback. This year, we focused on sprints based on feedback from PCM players.

However, we do have development goals, like offering more options for players to customize their experience.

Will sponsor management and financial aspects be improved?
Can we expect a more in-depth transfer system with real negotiations? Will an online career mode be offered?

The Pro Team mode was built about ten years ago on very arcade-based foundations (three races and a few riders to buy). We believe this vision has reached its limits.

Adding a transfer system on this basis wouldn’t be enough to create a new gameplay experience. Without a retirement system and new generations, it would be ineffective.

You’re probably thinking of PCM when you refer to these mechanics, but our goal is not to make a PCM for consoles. We want to create something deeper than the current Pro Team, while remaining distinct from PCM. We are working on this project, but it’s a huge task, and we don’t know yet when we will be able to release it. It will certainly include a transfer system.

Will the Pro Cyclist mode be expanded with more career choices and interactions?
Will it be possible to play as an existing rider or an U23 prospect instead of a created character?

The Pro Cyclist mode is one we’re not really comfortable with. It was imposed by our previous publisher. The idea was good, but we only had two months to create a mode that allowed creating a rider and progressing them. Due to time constraints, it was decided to use the Pro Team as the base and then improve the mode year after year. Unfortunately, the Pro Leader mode has never become a priority 😞. It has always been overshadowed by the online mode or Pro Team. Moreover, evolving the Pro Team always requires ensuring compatibility with Pro Leader, which can be a hindrance. We currently have more ambition for Pro Team than for Pro Leader.

Will there be a merger between PCM (management) and TDF (gameplay)?

Not at all 🙂.
Would you ask to merge Fifa and Football Manager?

Will modding be introduced for TDF, like on PCM?

It is not a priority. TDF is the official game of the Tour de France.

Many elements must be approved before launch (ASO, teams, brands). Modding can be very problematic for us because we have to verify what is added and manage requests from stakeholders.

Imagine someone creating great bikes through modding, but a manufacturer objects to their presence. We would then have to remove them, which takes a lot of time and could harm our relationships with our partners.

Will you finally secure all the rider licenses?

Our licensing team is working on it, but they don’t always manage to reach agreements with all the teams. This doesn’t depend solely on us, but all World Tour and Pro teams are being contacted.

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As you’ve seen, developing Tour de France is a real challenge (from strict deadlines and a small team to ambitious technical goals). Still, every member of the team pushes hard to improve the game each year, while sticking to an unmissable annual release.

The switch to Unreal marks a major step forward, helping us become more efficient and creative in the future. Thank you for your support and feedback, it plays a big role in shaping our decisions. We’ll keep pedaling hard for what’s next!

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