Tower Five

Tower Five was an independent French video game development studio based in La Rochelle. Founded in July 2017 by creative director Renaud Charpentier and technical director Mattijs van Delden, both formerly of Creative Assembly / SEGA, it developed games for consoles and PC. Its work combined real-time strategy, tactical action and literary adaptation, with particular attention to accessible controls and ergonomic gamepad design.

The studio's debut, Lornsword Winter Chronicle, introduced an original narrative action-strategy game designed around console controllers. Published by Microids Indie, it brought story-led combat and real-time strategic decisions to PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Tower Five also worked with Microids and Artefacts Studio on the Nintendo Switch adaptation of Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders, released in October 2020.

Its best-known production, Empire of the Ants, adapted Bernard Werber's novel into a photorealistic real-time strategy game. Released on November 7, 2024, for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, it presented the natural world from an ant's perspective. Development used Unreal Engine 5 and involved close collaboration with publisher Microids and Werber. The project combined the studio's interest in literary worlds with its capabilities in realistic environments and strategy mechanics.

Beyond individual releases, Tower Five's capabilities included full-cycle game design and engineering, multiplatform porting and optimization, real-time 3D simulation and cross-platform multiplayer networking. Its production experience spanned original projects and adaptations developed with publishing partners.

The studio subsequently developed Loaders, a planned free-to-play science-fiction tank shooter featuring 10-versus-10 multiplayer battles. Funding shortfalls prevented the project from continuing, and it was cancelled in 2025. Tower Five announced its closure on July 31, 2025, after entering judicial reorganization earlier that month. Judicial liquidation was ordered on August 1, 2025. The liquidation proceedings formally concluded on November 3, 2026, for insufficiency of assets, and the company's administrative activity ceased on the same date.