8/2/2019 ProMexico: Negocios Magazine: Social Games, Addictive as Chocolate
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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
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