Digital Legends entertains video gamers around the world
BARCELONA -- The bulk of the video game industry is based in the United States, but for Xavier Carrillo-Costa and his Digital Legends Entertainment company, Spain is a great place to play.
Its Medieval warrior fighting game Kroll was a big hit for Apple's iPhone and the iPod Touch, and is on tap to generate more than $1 million in revenue this year. Carrillo-Costa has deals with Finland-based Nokia for a new mobile dance game and South Korea-based Samsung for a high-definition version of Kroll, both scheduled for later this year. And it's working on a new game it hopes to have ready for the iPhone by the end of the year.
"Being in Barcelona, I have to travel to meetings more often," says Carrillo-Costa, 36, founder and CEO of Digital Legends. "The closer you are to your publishers, who tend to be in the United States, the easier it is. When we have a meeting, we have to take a plane and cross the ocean. But that's OK. Because we are in Europe, from a creative perspective, we bring something different."
The mobile industry has long been more advanced in Europe and Asia, taking advantage of faster, more powerful networks. Carrillo-Costa says U.S. publishers know this, and look to small firms such as Digital Legends for advanced graphics and technology.
Reviews for Kroll — which won the People's Choice nod from the International Mobile Gaming Awards — raved about the look of the game. Gaming site IGN.com called it a "visual stunner," while blog PocketGamer said it "established a new visual standard."
Carrillo-Costa last week slashed Kroll's price to 99 cents, from $7.99. "We want everyone to play it," he says.
Bucking the downturn
The global downturn is said to have hurt Spain worse than anywhere in Europe, with 20% unemployment, but Carrillo-Costa says it hasn't affected his company dramatically.
He currently has two employee teams in different offices on the fifth floor in a building in Barcelona's Eixample district, but intends to move to a larger facility. "We work in an industry that is growing, and there's a huge demand for what we do," he says.
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