The incredible history of Colombians who made the new FIFA video game

Jairo Nieto and Alejandro González, co -founders of Bacon Games.

Photo: Bacon Games, courtesy

In the neighborhood where Jairo Nieto grew there was a ritual. “There was a single copy of Goal Nintendo's classic. I had my neighbor in front, which was about ten years older than us, and sometimes he left his younger brother for a while so that we could play, ”recalls the co -founder, along with Alejandro González, by Bacon Games, a Colombian company that made history when developing the new FIFA video game.

That same child emotion – I look at play, football and screens – would accompany Jair FIFA Rivalsdeveloped in Colombia.

“Today we launched FIFA Rivalsan official FIFA game made in Colombia, with all the beautiful and the difficult thing that implies, ”he told The spectator Its partner, Alejandro González, during the global announcement of the game, which is already available to download for free in App Store and Google Play.

Alejandro and Jairo met many years ago and founded Bacon Games almost two decades ago. The company today leads one of the most ambitious projects that have been done in the country in digital entertainment.

“Since I have memory I am Gamer. My dream was always to make games, it was always to build stories and build universes. When I graduated from the school, even from the university, that was still quite distant. However, by 2007, when the smartphones began to leave, the access to the development of video games and also to consumption was a little. To make an AAA game. That was a very closed industry, ”said Jairo.

There they saw their chance. Alejandro and Jairo got into the industry from the mobile side, began to create their own intellectual property and work for large companies. “We have worked with companies around the world; we have worked with companies such as Square Enixfor example, ”says Jairo. However, nothing had prepared them for what would come.

FIFA call

A little over a year ago, everything changed. After its separation of Electronic Arts – which for years developed the mythical video game FIFAnow renamed like FC 24– The governing body of world football was looking for new partners to venture into the field of mobile games. The alliance was made with Mythical Games, the latest American company that had already developed the official NFL game. And that is where Bacon Games's story crossed that of FIFA.

“Coincidentially, a little more than a year ago, Jairo and I, in the United States, met with the person who handles the entire issue of entertainment in FIFA and we were connected,” Alejandro said.

“When Mythical Games was starting to look for a partner with whom to create this new experience that was called FIFA RivalsWe were a natural partner. It was very easy for us to get together with Mythical, sign with FIFA and create this game, ”he added.

Marriage was ideal. Bacon Games had been doing online games, real and strategy for 17 years. “We were coming with a lot of experience doing online games, and this game particularly had an online component,” Alejandro explained.

In addition, Mythical contributed his blockchain platform, his experience with NFL Rivals and its distribution muscle. The result is a game that offers short two -minute games, with native gestures of the cell phone –tap, drag– And without Joystick. A game designed to hook users from mobile experience, but with the support and official FIFA license.

The challenge of doing so in ten months

Making a game of this size is not easy. And less in ten months. “Making games is like sending a rocket to the moon, but you are having fun in the process,” says Alejandro.

“To get an idea, the greatest challenge was time. Normally, a video game takes place in two, three, four years. This game did in ten months. And it was one of the FIFA conditions: having to be ready in a very short term. This game is launched within the framework of the Club World Cup. So, play a game of size and complexity of FIFA Rivals In ten months it has been a great challenge, but our team in Bacon has managed to cope with. ”

In the study in Bogotá about 40 people dedicated exclusively to this project: artists, testersdevelopers. In the United States, Mythical provides equipment in areas such as customer service, marketing or business development, but the game code – the product of the product – was written in Colombia.

“We are a team that has been working together for more than a decade. That helps us to be agile, to be very good in what we do,” said Jairo.

“I think that contributes to continuing to corroborate a little the bet that has been made in the country: that here can be made first level video games,” he added.

The weight of FIFA in the hands

Is this the biggest project they have made in their history? The answer is overwhelming. “I think it is very difficult to do something bigger than FIFA,” said Jairo.

And he explained: “I do not imagine doing a bigger project, nor do I imagine having in our hands an intellectual property with greater size than FIFA. I think of Disney, Call of Duty, Pokémon… those who have that global recognition are very little. ”

The fact of being the first official game after the rupture with EA added pressure. But also motivation. “One of the ways in which we have done it is not to try to focus much on the size of the challenge, but to assume that we are making the best possible football game we can do: the most fun, the most hooking, the best executed,” Jairo explained.

“The fact that it is an official FIFA game is a plus. But if we stay thinking that we are doing – as you say it – the first official game after the break between EA and FIFA, the responsibility is immense. I think we would paralyze a little fear with that, but we took it forward,” Jairo said.

A game to compete in the global market

FIFA Rivals It is also a bet in an increasingly competitive mobile market. “As the market consolidated, it became a little more difficult,” Jairo admits.

“The cell phones industry,” on all of the free to play– He became more complex. In addition, Apple took out its store and Netflix also came to participate. There are companies with marketing budgets that seem infinite. One sees that they make guidelines with superfamous actors, with Shakira, with top -level artists. That makes smaller companies more difficult. ”

However, having the FIFA on your side is a huge advantage. And for the Colombian ecosystem, a clear sign: talent is up to it. “Participate in the development of FIFA Rivals It represents a milestone not only for Bacon Games, but for the entire video game industry in Colombia, ”says Alejandro and Jairo in the official statement.

“Being part of the team behind the official game for FIFA mobile devices shows that there is world -class talent in the country capable of assuming global challenges,” they added.

Maybe someday, when FIFA Rivals I reach that dream that his partner in Mythical shared – to see in one of the few games with a billion players in the world – Alejandro remember again those afternoons in the neighborhood, playing Goal In a nintendo borrowed. And smile. Because, somehow, it all started there.

🚴🏻⚽🏀 The latest in sports?: Everything you should know about world sport is in the spectator