Stephane Portha

Stephane Portha is one of the pioneers of the Internet. Indeed, in 1980, he took part to the creation of the first French Internet news network. Then, in 1983, he participated to the launching of the Minitel. 12 years later, he was part in the creation of the first Internet Cable with France Telecom where he was the project manager. He was also the co-founder of the Linux company. In 2000, he created jeux.fr and football.fr but it have been sold to investors. He liked his job but it was not his real passion, his real passion has always been video games.

Stephane Portha and his love for video games

Everything starts in 1972 when he was playing the very popular game Pong. Since this time, video games are his greatest passion. Some years later, in 1980, his passion became more concrete by programming the game Tanks on SharpPC-1211 then ZX81.

This passionate of video games is now considered as a pioneer of the video game industry thanks to his years of experience developing modern video games and applications. He is one of the most important video game developer of his generation and accomplished great things. Thanks to his imagination and his sense of innovation, he took part in creating some of the best gaming products which are still available today.

Stephane Portha CEO of Eurocenter

Eurocenter is probably the best thing he accomplished in his career. Eurocenter is a firm based on the development of video games which also distributes the games and makes the licensing of technologies. They work on the international scene by selling games to the United-States, in Europe or Asia. He founded this company in 1989 which allowed him to combine his two enduring passions, online gaming and the Internet. The name of Eurocenter became later Eurocenter Games. He was now able to focus his attention onto developing new video game projects.

One of the examples of his success is in 1990 when he launched Minitel networked games or in 1998 when, with the help of Stefan Knorr, he launched one of the first massive multiplayer games ever on Windows PC called “GraalOnline Classic”. In this game, you play with thousands of other players in a medieval world but it is very simple thanks to an animated design. In 2007, Graalonline Zone became the first ever MMO game for smartphones. Still to this day, Eurocenter Games is still one of the main companies of developing of online games and mobile applications. We can notice many improvements, for example, GraalOnline became available in three different versions on iOS and Android platforms. Currently, we can play to Graalonline Zone, Graalonline Era and Graalonline classic. In spite of its 8 million games distributed on Appstore, the company remains dedicated to its Indie games roots and continues to serve its player based community. Today, Stephane Portha is still the CEO of Eurocenter Games and continues to devote himself to his two great passion by developing new innovating games.

Graalonline Classic

Graalonline Era +

Graalonline Olwest

Graalonline Zone +

A way to link his two passions

1989 - Present

EUROCENTER GAMES

FOUNDER AND CEO

In 1989, Stephane Portha, as a pioneer of the virtual world, continues his tireless search. It led to a link between the American information networks and the French networks, via satelite. It was neither nor less than the development of the Internet in France. In 1995, he created the company Multicable, going from the Internet satelite network to a wired network, the ancestor of today’s fiber networks. In paralel with these incredible advances in the field of information networks, Stephane Portha did not abandone his original passion: video games. In the late 80s, early 90s, he developed many network games played on Minitel. He seeks a way to link the two passions which have both traits to the exchange of informations, or informative nature, or playful vocation. 1989 will be the year of his own company founding, allowing him to link the two activities: Eurocenter was born.
1996 - 1998

MULTICÂBLE AND WANADOO

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
In 1998, the first game stamped Eurocenter was born. Titled GraalOnline, it is a platform game massively multiplayer opus, The famous MMO games. In 2007, Eurocenter, now called Eurocenter Games, becomes involved in the launch of the first games on Appstore GraalOnline Zone, with the first MMO Freetoplay Smartphone iOS.

Stephane Portha, a digital and entertaining dna

Mr Stéphane Portha is a geek addict and a gamer lined with a drip, which has managed to live on his two passions, like other artists manage to live on their feathers or their brushes. Everything started one morning in 1972, when he discovered the Pong vidéo game. It was immediate, playful and digital venom was inoculated. Mr Portha would never seek antidote, rather encouraging the spread of this passion liquid through his vains. In 1980, he was already able to demonstrate his artistic talents in the virtual entertainment business, developing the Tank game. The same year he participates to the development of the first exchange information’s network on UUCP. In 1983, he will be one of the active participants in the development of the Minitel network. Vidéo games, development of information networks, both marrottes are already there, well anchored, despite an era that coincided only with digital infancy.

His favorite game style

Today Eurocenter Games continues to develop online games more and more modern and sophisticated, including versions for tablets and smartphones. The company is riding on the success of the game Graalonline, by offering different versions adapted to modern media sets. Mr Stephane Portha favorite game style, however, remain those of his youth. After Graalonline, which was a platform game about quest in a medieval era, he develops Era +, a game consisting in creating its own mafia empire in a modern urban world, made of concrete, walls and parapets to cross, among of a fauna composed of modern thugs, police and ethnic groups. The basic theme remains the same, invent and build his own life in the universe you are screened.