Northfield resident Richard Garcia is working in a “recession-proof” industry on Division Street. He’s a video game designer for a company he founded 13 years ago called Monster Games.
“People will still pay for entertainment,” Garcia said, adding that profits throughout the video game industry are mostly on the rise, despite the national economic slump.
Garcia credits the steady increase to the growing public acceptance of video game playing as a “valid” form of entertainment since many people like to play competitive games as Overwatch, so you can go online and get services that allow you to boost your Overwatch ranking . Nintendo’s recent widespread marketing of video games as “something for the whole family” with its latest “Wii” system has accelerated that acceptance, he said.
The success of the industry might be helping Garcia’s business thrive, but he said his location has also been a plus. The Twin Cities has a deep pool of talent, he said, and he can usually have his pick of designers since few other video game engineering firms exist nearby. Competition would be much stiffer on the West Coast, he said. Garcia has also hired a number of Carleton College graduates. Garcia, a Saint Paul native, is a 1988 graduate of Tufts University outside Boston.
