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Photo COurtEsy OF LArvA GAME stuDIOs

JorgeMoralesisayoungentrepre-

neur fromGuadalajara, Jalisco,

whorefusestotakegameoverfor

ananswer,nomatterhowtoughthe

goinggets.Aftergraduatingfrom

the Tecnolgico de Monterrey

(ITESM) one of the countrys top private

universitieswithadegreeinComputerSys-

tems, he beganworking in themultimedia

sectordesigningwebpagesbutdeep inside

heknewhiscallingwasvideogames.

Ivebeenagamermywholelife.WhenIwas 11,I receivedmyrstvideogames:

Atari, Pac Man, Space Invaders and the

like,hesays.

Aroundthattime,afriendlentMorales

softwarethatallowedhimtocreatehisown

gaminglevelandthatswhenhewasbitten

bythevideogamebug.

Designing web pages allowed him to

makeadecentlivingbutitwasntlongbe-

forehedecidedtotakealeapoffaithand

startdevelopinghisownvideogames.

Businessdidntexactlygetofftoaboom-

ing start, though.His rst project was a

op. The tiny multimedia department at

thecompanywhereheworkednevergotoff

thegroundandwhenhispartnersinsisted

itwasalostcause,Moralessoldthemhis

sharesandwentonalone.

In2007,hepartneredupwithagroup

of Colombian investors and Immersion

GamesMexicoasubsidiaryofImmersion

GamesColombiawasborn.

Cell Factor: Psychokinetic Wars, a rst-personshootergameinwhichplayerscan

choose from superpowers like telekinesis,

teleportationandspeedrunning,waspro-

duced by Immersion Games Mexico for

XBoxandPlayStationconsolesandwasthe

rstvideogameMoraleslefthismarkon.

Whilewewere developing this game,

wemetalotofpeoplefromcompaniessuch

asSlangandTelevisaand thatswhenwe

beganworkingonLucha Libre AAA: Hroes

del Ring,inmid-2008,saysMorales.

ReleasedonOctober2010forXBox360

andPS3consoles,Lucha Libre AAA: Hroes

del Ringfaithfullyreproducestheworldof

Mexicanwrestling,asportthathasmillions

offansnotonlyinMexicobutworldwide.

In this virtual world, players don

the masks and personalities of Mexican

luchadores LaParca, DoctorWagner,

Abismo Negro, Psycho Clowns and

otherlegendarywrestlersastheyimmobi-

lizeeachotherwitharmlocks,executehigh

kicksandjumpfromtheropes.Some450,000copiesofthersteditionof

Lucha Libre AAA: Hroes del Ringwerepro-

duced.Morethanavideogame,itisaMexi-

canproductthathasfamiliarizedtheentire

continent with this iconic Mexican sport,

fromCanadaallthewaytoArgentina.

Over andbeyond itscommercial suc-

cess, this game opened the door to new

gamestudios.TheNationalCouncilonSci-

ence andTechnology (CONACYT, accord-

ingtoitsSpanishacronym)realizeditwasa

larva

gaMe studios:gaMe ontHis MexiCan video gaMe CoMPany is known For taking tHe

aCtion to tHe next level. in its sHort liFe, larva gaMe studios

Has beCoMe one oF MexiCos toP video gaMe develoPers, one

tHat does not know tHe Meaning oF gaMe over.

byantoniovzquez

38 Negocios

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nichewithpotentialgrowththatwasworth

investingin,saysMorales.

FROM LARVA TO PUPA

By the timeMoralesandhisteamhadn-

ishedworkingonLucha Libre AAA: Hroes

del Ring, Immersion GamesColombiawas

trappedinadownwardspiral.Sobeforeits

subsidiaryinMexicowassuckedin,theyset

upanewcompany:LarvaGameStudios.

Thecompanystartedoutmakingvideo

games and doing animation for Televisa,butthe originalteamof 12 thatcomprised

ImmersionGamesMexicohassincegrown

toanarmyof45recruitsinvolvedinproj-

ectsforXBoxandPlayStationconsolesand

gamesforsmartphones,iPodsandiPads.

LarvaGameStudiosiscurrentlydevelop-

ingLast Day On Earth.Itsaboutanextrater-

restrial invasion, explains Morales. The

gamebeginswiththearrivalofhundredsof

thousandsofaliens,whomustbekeptatbay

bythehumans,whoareoutnumbered.Itsa

newgenreinwhichhumansliveinbunkers

andhavelimitedtimetocomeupwithastrat-

egybeforetheinvadersland.Whenyouwin

ground, you entrench yourself in the next

sectionand thestorybeginsalloveragain.

Youdeneyourstrategyagainsttheclock;we

havesetmines,barbedwireandcanons.The

gamewillbelaunchedonNovember2013.

Mexicosvideogameindustryischanging.

Notsolongago,consolecompanieslikeSony

andMicrosoftwerentinterestedinwhatwe

weredoingbutlastyear,Sonyinitiatedanin-cubationprogramforLatinstudiosandMi-

crosofthasfollowedsuit,saysMorales.

AccordingtoMorales,thenextlevelisto

consolidateMexicosstudios.Inveyears,

he forecasts,Mexicowillbe LatinAmeri-

casleadingdeveloperofvideogames,gain-

ingacompetitiveadvantageovercountries

likeBrazil,ChileandArgentinathathave

well-establishedindustries. n

www.larvagamestudios.com

nOt sO LOnG AGO,

COnsOLE COMPAnIEs LIKE

sOny AnD MICrOsOFt

wErEnt IntErEstED In

wHAt wE wErE DOInG

but LAst yEAr, sOny

InItIAtED An InCubAtIOn

PrOGrAM FOr LAtIn

stuDIOs AnD MICrOsOFt

HAs FOLLOwED suIt,

sAys MOrALEs.

MexiCos Partner larva game studios