Team Leads

We have assembled a very passionate and talented group of individuals specializing in diverse areas of game development, e.g. programming, game design, 3D modeling and animation.

Our core team consists of graduates of DigiPen Institute of Technology, Monterrey Tech (ITESM) and Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Xibalba Studios® has the talent and know-how needed to stand out in the international video game market.

Ricardo Villarreal, Founder / CEO

Ricardo studied in Redmond, Washington, where he got a B. Sc. in Real Time Interactive Simulation from DigiPen, as well as an AA from nearby Bellevue Community College. He took part in two projects that were finalists in the IGF’s students category. Upon graduation, he learned that he had become the first Mexican to graduate from DigiPen, and it was then that his mission was clear: return to Mexico and create not the first but the best game company in the country.

Steven Johnson, Co-founder / Tech Director

Steven is another DigiPen survivor, and worked together with Ricardo on one of the IGF finalist projects. In mid-2004, Ricardo invited him to co-found Xibalba Studios® and he has been hard at work there ever since.

Rodolfo Romero, Lead Programmer

Rodolfo is a Computer Systems Engineer who graduated in 2002 from Monterrey Tech (ITESM). He then went to Barcelona, Spain in 2004, where he received a Master’s degree in video game creation from Universitat Pompeu Fabra and also did a postgraduate course in creativity management at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Once finished, he came back to Mexico and in 2006 he joined Xibalba Studios®.