Veronika Mikhailova

Lots of talent, little support: How games are developed in Mexico

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There is a popular format on Twitter: “one like — one fact.” As part of this format, the head of the Mexican mobile publisher HyperBeard, Antonio Uribe Fire, spoke about interesting aspects of game development in Mexico.

App2Top publishes a translation for you.

The origin of games and game development in Mexico

  • The first games were brought to the country by shuttle workers who illegally transported products from the USA.
  • Piracy has taken root here, the authorities are almost not fighting it. For gamers, this is a plus, because they have the opportunity to play. Also, thanks to piracy, many have received free access to software.

Northern neighbors

  • Thanks to the proximity to the USA, cheap technologies and large international events such as GDC, E3, PAX are available to Mexicans.
  • At the same time, the United States offers great opportunities to many talented Mexicans, and they are leaving. It is difficult to keep talents at home if they are offered abroad everything that is not available in Mexico.
  • Throughout the Latin American region, Mexico is the testing ground for many platforms and projects. For example, there is a local Kickstarter division here.
  • In the Mexican Steam, the prices for games are lower. But games for Nintendo and many other platforms in Mexico are more expensive.

  • There is no established culture of entrepreneurship in the country, and technology companies seem to be niche. Even in the big cities of Mexico, many companies are very conservative.
  • The process of creating a technology company (or startup) is similar to launching any other. There is a lot of bureaucracy, everything is complicated and expensive.
  • In Mexico, almost no one invests in games, developers are forced to cope on their own. That’s why many studios die without releasing anything.
  • Making games in Mexico is not considered a real job.
  • There are no big developers in Mexico, which means there is no opportunity to study development and at the same time receive a decent salary.

Mexico is big, diverse and really cheap

  • Compared to other countries in the Latin American region, Mexico is quite cheap. And even cheaper when compared with the USA, Canada or European countries. You don’t need to be a super successful developer here to earn your bread with games. $1 thousand a month is enough for a secure life almost anywhere in Mexico.
  • Mexican developers are scattered throughout the vast country, and often they meet each other only at international events.
  • There are 130 million people living in Mexico. Video games are widespread here. This is a huge market for AAA titles. In theory, Mexicans can maintain their own game dev, but historically they hate buying things made by compatriots.
  • Mexicans are not too good at design and are not too attentive to details. They are generally quite careless.
  • Many Mexican directors have won Oscars and Golden Globes (Del Toro, Cuaron, Inarritu), and the Mexican authorities sometimes help them with financing cinema. This is not happening with games yet, but developers are fighting to be noticed.
  • Developers very rarely communicate and share almost nothing with each other. This applies to studios, developer schools, and event organizers. But in the last five years, the situation has begun to change.
  • The local game dev lacks creativity. The first projects of Mexican developers are usually associated with the Aztec civilization or the Day of the Dead. At the same time, none of them have met successful games based on Mexican culture.
  • Mexico is not a well-known game manufacturer, so the major media rarely pay attention to what is happening in the local game development.

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