Business student launches early release of video game

B.I. Moody III College of Business senior Nicholas Laborde opened sales of his video game, Close Order, August 7 via leading PC game digital distribution platform Steam.

Laborde is the founder of Raconteur Games, a Lafayette-based video game startup. Close Order is a fast-paced arcade shooter where the player focuses on building an armada of space ships to increase firepower. The game combines several video game genres into one fast-paced, mashed-up modern take on arcade games. It has been in development since January of 2014.

Laborde built his nationally recruited team and secured investment all while a management student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He also utilized the assistance of Zachary Barker, the Moody College of Business Administration’s Entrepreneur in Residence and mentor for AcceleRagin’, UL Lafayette’s student incubator program.

“Close Order is a genuine product of Acadiana,” says Laborde. “Lafayette has been very good to us, and we couldn’t be more proud to continue development and distribution of this incredible game in the region.”

Close Order will launch as an Early Access game, a new business model for video games that allows creators to release their games at a discounted price while it is still a work in progress. “Early Access provides us with the ability to build our customer base and drive revenue while fine-tuning this ambitious and revolutionary game prior to releasing the complete version,” Laborde says.

The game has garnered high praise from industry leaders, such as the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, who said, “Need to play more!” and Randy Pitchford, head of Gearbox Software, who said, “Wow… really cool!” Close Order is currently planned for an Early Access release on August 7 via Steam. For more information, please see Close Order’s Steam page: store.steampowered.com/app/383800/