Photo COurtEsy OF DIGItAL CHOCOLAtE

42 Negocios

soCial gaMes, addiCtive as ChoColate

digital CHoColate is a CaliFornia-based develoPer oF video gaMes For soCial networks wHose MexiCan subsidiary Has Proven to Have not only tHe teCHniCal know-How but also tHe Creative talent to CoMe uP witH new ProduCts tHat Have enabled tHe CoMPany to Consolidate its leading Market Position.
exico hasnt been left behind in the race to develop games for social networks that can be adapted to a variety of platforms. The software industry is advancing rapidly and cell phone, social network and video game console users are just as quick to adopt new applications and devices. In light of the business opportunities this opens up, Mexican developers are seeking to turn ideas on paper into profitable ventures on screen. Global software companies have cottoned on to the creativity and technical know-how of Mexicos young developers and are including them in their creative teams. Digital Chocolate is case in point. This Californian-based company is behind the vast majority of the social games associated with the Internet revolution of the last decade. In mid-2009, it discovered the young talent it needed to meet growing demand for

new content in the border city of Mexicali, Baja California. The company was founded in 2003 by Trip Hawkins, a member of the developers dynasty of the 1980s responsible for taking video games to todays levels. A reputable Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Hawkins has played the game in all its variables, founding Electronic Arts, launching the 3DO console in the 1990s and pioneering Javabased cell phone games. The games developed by Digital Chocolate have been adapted for iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Facebook, PCs and cell phones with Android, Windows 7 and Windows Mobile operating systems. Hawkins has even come up with the term Omni Media Gamer to describe his products capacity to adapt to a multitude of platforms. But ubiquity of this dimension is not achieved overnight. A decade ago, Hawkins

formed remote porting teams in Helsinki, Finland; Bengaluru, India; Barcelona, Spain and Mexicali, Mexico, to make the necessary technical modifications to ensure Digital Chocolate games function on the most popular operating systems. The engineers here are very versatile. They can be working on Facebook for a while and then switch to mobile or other technologies, says Digital Chocolate Mexico Operations Manager Francisco Casanova. It wasnt long, however, before Digital Chocolates Mexican subsidiary progressed from specific technical to more creative aspects of the development process. When Casanova was contacted by the company in 2009, he and two others began working at its offices in Mexicali. Before the year was up, they were submitting ideas for new Java-based video games. Then came the Facebook boom and the rise in popularity of social games. Soon

MexiCos Partner digital chocolate

It wAsnt LOnG, HOwEvEr, bEFOrE DIGItAL CHOCOLAtEs MExICAn subsIDIAry PrOGrEssED FrOM sPECIFIC tECHnICAL tO MOrE CrEAtIvE AsPECts OF tHE DEvELOPMEnt PrOCEss.

there were 32 people working elbow to elbow at the companys Mexican office. Were a relatively young team. Id say the average age is 26. Were all happy with the space we have and our colleagues, says Casanova, who supervises developers from Monterrey, Len, Mexico City, Tijuana, Guadalajara and other parts of the country. The growth of Digital Chocolates Mexican office can be attributed to the companys good results and an extremely diversified product portfolio, which runs the whole gamut from martial arts, action, adventure and city building to casinos, card games, puzzles, racing, strategy and sports games. Facebook is the promised land of social games, with Millionaire City, Zombie Lane, Galaxy Life, Army Attack, New in Town and MMA Pro Fighter now rating among the companys biggest money spinners. Millionaire City, the most popular of Digital Chocolates games, boasts 2.3 mil-

lion monthly active users (MAU), according to the AppData service provided by Inside Network for the social gaming industry. AppData puts the total number of users of all the companys games, regardless of the platform they operate on, at 7.48 million MAU. In monetary terms, profits come from the items players acquire during each game so they can compete, keep progressing and set records. That means developing a new product depends just as much on ideas and creativity as it does on a carefully thought-out strategy based on market research and the needs of users of social networks and mobile devices. This is a business because a copious of money changes hands. First, we conduct an opportunity analysis and market research to identify trends. Then we look at the type of gameplay, the size of the market and the platform, says Casanova.

We know the gaming ideas we come up with here in Mexicali must relate to global trends. The products have to be conceived for markets not only in Mexico but also as far afield as New Zealand and our product portfolio has to appeal to all kinds of users, from a child to his or her grandmother, he adds. That is why Casanova attends meetings at Digital Chocolates offices all over the world. Back in Mexico, he is negotiating staff exchange agreements with software developers to take advantage of the relative freedom his office has been given to expand and is also organizing a 48-hour marathon to get ideas circulating and create prototypes for new games. All with the backing of a talented team of homegrown developers.

www.digitalchocolate.com

44 Negocios

Photo COurtEsy OF MEtACubE

For me, film is about understanding life through fantasy. It opens up the possibility of a deeper understanding of who we are, where we are and why. The experience becomes an emotional one when you get sufficiently lost in a film. You get the chance to travel to places youve never been and meet people you would have never met. Film is the closest thing there is to magic. These are the words of Guillermo del Toro, a film director born in Guadalajara who is now a big Hollywood name. They are also words that find an echo in Metacube, a company headquartered in Del Toros hometown that has witnessed firsthand the magical transformation of Mexicos animation industry, from the valiant efforts of solitary artists battling it out for funds to the equipping of studios and clusters with computers and 3D software. In the last five years, weve seen the sector evolve and our company has ben-

efitted from this new mindset the federal government has adopted. Weve worked with practically everyone in the business, says Metacube CEO Carlos Gutirrez. Founded a decade ago by Gutirrez, Rubn Prez and Jaime Jasso, Metacube is the go-to guru when it comes to special effects, 3D animation and concept art. Over and beyond these creative concepts, the company has its sights set on the Hispanic market in the United States and, on the international arena, Asia. Our goal is to eventually develop our own contents, characters and stories and use Mexico as a global launch platform, says Gutirrez, adding that this is the most complicated and most expensive aspect, even though Mexico is the worlds fourthlargest consumer of movies and television entertainment provided by companies like TV Azteca and Televisa. The advantage, he says, is that our contents are designed to travel and will be seen by more and more

wE wAnt tO CELEbrAtE Our CuLturE AnD trADItIOns but In A unIvErsAL LAnGuAGE. IF A MExICAn-MADE FILM Is MEAnt tO bE Funny, It sHOuLD bE PErCEIvED As suCH wHEn Its sHOwn In CHInA AnD AuDIEnCEs At HOME sHOuLD bE PrOuD It wAs MADE In MExICO. CArLOs GutIrrEz