MBA student finds success through entrepreneurship program

Nicholas Laborde, founder of video game startup Raconteur Games, will unveil the full release of his game, “Close Order,” today.

Laborde, who earned a bachelor’s degree in management in December from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, participated in AcceleRagin’, the University’s entrepreneurship accelerator program. He’s pursuing an MBA in the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration.

“ ‘Close Order’ is our ambitious first game, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Lafayette community, especially the AcceleRagin’ program and all the great opportunities it has afforded us,” he said.

Laborde began developing “Close Order,” a fast-paced game that features an arcade shooter focused on building a fleet of spaceships, in early 2014. Since August, it has been available for download as an early release, which allows creators to distribute games that are still works in progress.

“Close Order” has earned praise from industry leaders, according to reviews posted on Steam, a digital distribution platform for personal computer video games.

“Need to play more to build up my armada…was fun!” wrote Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, Microsoft’s video gaming brand.

Randy Pitchford, a founder of video game development company Gearbox Software, commented: “Wow…really cool!”

Based on customer feedback, Laborde created an improved, final version of the game.

He and the team at Raconteur Games plan to develop a second video game.

“ ‘Close Order’ was just the first of many stories that Raconteur will tell,” he said.

Learn more about “Close Order” at raconteurgames.com.