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Mexico hasnt been left

behindintheracetode-

velop games for social

networks that can be

adapted to a variety of

platforms.Thesoftwareindustryisadvanc-

ingrapidlyandcellphone,socialnetworkand

videogameconsoleusersarejustasquickto

adoptnewapplicationsanddevices.Inlight

ofthebusinessopportunitiesthisopensup,

Mexicandevelopersareseekingtoturnideasonpaperintoprotableventuresonscreen.

Globalsoftwarecompanieshavecottoned

ontothecreativityandtechnicalknow-how

of Mexicos young developers and are in-

cludingthemintheircreativeteams.

Digital Chocolate is case in point. This

Californian-based company is behind the

vastmajorityof thesocialgamesassociated

with the Internet revolution of the last de-

cade. Inmid-2009, itdiscovered theyoung

talentitneededtomeetgrowingdemandfor

new content in the bordercity ofMexicali,

BajaCalifornia.

Thecompanywasfoundedin2003by

TripHawkins,amemberofthedevelopers

dynastyofthe1980sresponsiblefortaking

videogamestotodayslevels.Areputable

SiliconValleyentrepreneur,Hawkinshas

playedthegameinallitsvariables,found-

ing Electronic Arts, launching the 3DO

consoleinthe1990sandpioneeringJava-

basedcellphonegames.ThegamesdevelopedbyDigitalChoco-

late have been adapted for iPhone, iPod

Touch, Blackberry, Facebook, PCs and

cellphoneswithAndroid,Windows7and

WindowsMobileoperatingsystems.

Hawkins has even come up with the

termOmniMediaGamertodescribehis

products capacityto adaptto amultitude

ofplatforms.

But ubiquity of this dimension is not

achievedovernight.Adecadeago,Hawkins

formedremoteportingteamsinHelsinki,

Finland; Bengaluru, India; Barcelona,

Spain andMexicali,Mexico, tomake the

necessarytechnicalmodicationstoensure

Digital Chocolate games function on the

mostpopularoperatingsystems.

The engineers here are very versatile.

They can be working on Facebook for a

while and then switch tomobile or other

technologies,saysDigitalChocolateMexico

OperationsManagerFranciscoCasanova.It wasnt long, however, before Digi-

tal Chocolates Mexican subsidiary pro-

gressed from specic technical to more

creative aspects of the development pro-

cess. When Casanova was contacted by

the company in2009, heand two others

began working at its ofces in Mexicali.

Beforetheyearwasup,theyweresubmit-

tingideasfornewJava-basedvideogames.

ThencametheFacebookboomandthe

rise inpopularity of social games. Soon

soCial gaMes,addiCtiveas 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.

PhotoCOurtEsy OF DIGItAL CHOCOLAtE

42 Negocios

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therewere32peopleworkingelbowtoel-

bowatthecompanysMexicanoffice.

Were a relatively young team. Id say

theaverageageis26.Wereallhappywith

thespacewehaveandourcolleagues,says

Casanova,whosupervisesdevelopersfrom

Monterrey, Len, Mexico City, Tijuana,

Guadalajaraandotherpartsofthecountry.

ThegrowthofDigitalChocolatesMexi-

canofcecanbeattributedtothecompanys

good results andan extremelydiversiedproduct portfolio, which runs the whole

gamutfrommartialarts,action,adventure

and city building to casinos,card games,

puzzles,racing,strategyandsportsgames.

Facebookisthepromisedlandofsocial

games,withMillionaire City,Zombie Lane,

Galaxy Life,Army Attack,New in Townand

MMA Pro Fighter now rating among the

companysbiggestmoneyspinners.

Millionaire City, the most popular of

DigitalChocolates games, boasts 2.3mil-

lionmonthlyactiveusers(MAU),according

totheAppDataserviceprovidedbyInside

Networkforthesocialgamingindustry.

AppDataputsthetotalnumberofusers

of all thecompanysgames,regardless of

theplatformthey operateon,at 7.48mil-

lionMAU.

Inmonetary terms, prots come from

theitemsplayersacquireduringeachgame

sotheycancompete,keepprogressingand

setrecords.That means developing a new product

dependsjustasmuchonideasandcreativity

asitdoesonacarefullythought-outstrategy

basedonmarketresearchandtheneedsof

usersofsocialnetworksandmobiledevices.

Thisisabusinessbecauseacopiousof

money changes hands. First, we conduct

an opportunity analysis and market re-

searchtoidentifytrends.Thenwelookat

thetypeofgameplay,thesizeofthemarket

andtheplatform,saysCasanova.

Weknowthegamingideaswecome

up with here inMexicali must relate to

global trends. The products have to be

conceivedformarketsnotonlyinMexico

butalsoasfarafieldasNewZealandand

ourproductportfoliohastoappealtoall

kindsofusers,fromachildtohisorher

grandmother,headds.

That is why Casanova attends meet-

ingsatDigitalChocolatesofficesallover

the world. Back inMexico, he is nego-tiating staff exchange agreements with

softwaredeveloperstotakeadvantageof

the relative freedom his officehas been

giventoexpandandisalsoorganizinga

48-hourmarathon to get ideas circulat-

ingandcreateprototypesfornewgames.

Allwiththebackingofatalentedteamof

homegrowndevelopers.

www.digitalchocolate.com

It wAsnt LOnG,HOwEvEr, bEFOrE

DIGItAL CHOCOLAtEsMExICAn subsIDIAry

PrOGrEssED FrOMsPECIFIC tECHnICAL

tO MOrE CrEAtIvEAsPECts OF tHE

DEvELOPMEntPrOCEss.

MexiCos Partner digital chocolate

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44 Negocios44 Negocios PhotoCOurtEsy OF MEtACubE

Forme,lmisaboutunderstanding

lifethroughfantasy.Itopensupthe

possibilityofadeeperunderstand-

ing of whowe are, wherewe are

andwhy.The experiencebecomes

anemotional onewhenyougetsufciently

lostinalm.Yougetthechancetotravelto

places youve never been and meet people

youwouldhavenevermet.Filmistheclosest

thingthereistomagic.

ThesearethewordsofGuillermodel

Toro,afilmdirectorborninGuadalajarawhoisnowabigHollywoodname.

They are alsowords that nd an echo

inMetacube,acompanyheadquarteredin

Del Toros hometown that has witnessed

rsthand the magical transformation of

Mexicosanimationindustry,fromtheval-

ianteffortsofsolitaryartistsbattlingitout

forfunds to the equipping of studiosand

clusterswithcomputersand3Dsoftware.

Inthe last ve years,weve seen the

sectorevolve and our companyhas ben-

ettedfromthisnewmindsetthefederal

government has adopted.Weveworked

withpracticallyeveryoneinthebusiness,

saysMetacubeCEOCarlosGutirrez.

Founded a decade ago by Gutirrez,

RubnPrez andJaimeJasso,Metacube

isthego-toguruwhenitcomestospecial

effects,3Danimationandconceptart.

Over and beyond these creative con-

cepts,thecompanyhasitssightsseton

theHispanicmarketintheUnitedStates

and,ontheinternationalarena,Asia.Our goal is to eventuallydevelop our

owncontents, characters andstories and

useMexico as a global launchplatform,

saysGutirrez,addingthatthisisthemost

complicated andmost expensive aspect,

eventhoughMexicoistheworldsfourth-

largestconsumerofmoviesandtelevision

entertainmentprovidedbycompanieslike

TVAztecaandTelevisa.Theadvantage,

hesays,isthatourcontentsaredesigned

totravelandwillbeseenbymoreandmore

wE wAnt tO CELEbrAtEOur CuLturE AnD

trADItIOns but In AunIvErsAL LAnGuAGE.

IF A MExICAn-MADE FILMIs MEAnt tO bE Funny, It

sHOuLD bE PErCEIvED AssuCH wHEn Its sHOwn InCHInA AnD AuDIEnCEs At

HOME sHOuLD bE PrOuD ItwAs MADE In MExICO.

CArLOs GutIrrEz