Latinx Games are here. So is the FBI. Here's why.

Directors, screenwriters and movie stars aren’t the only ones flocking from Southern California to Albuquerque these days. Add developers, gamers and possibly federal agents to the list.

For the first time since 2019, the Latinx Games Festival will be taking place in Albuquerque Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. It was previously held in the Los Angeles-area cities of Long Beach and Downey.

Xbox has been a sponsor of the event since its origination.

“Xbox became one of our very first sponsors, and they made it by them sponsoring. They made it real. You know, they provided the funding and the support and the venue,” said Jason Vega, founder of the Latinx Games Festival.

But Xbox isn’t the event’s only sponsor of note.

This year the Federal Bureau of Investigation is listed as the event’s platinum sponsor.

“I’ll be 100% honest — I wasn’t even quite sure how they would fit into things,” Vega said.

But he explained that, while the gaming industry is having layoffs “left and right,” the federal agency is looking for those with the skill sets of game developers who can do things like “recreate a crime scene.”

“I actually think they’re hiring and looking for qualified people,” Vega said. “And I feel like game developers now may be looking for alternate career paths.”

Raul Bujanda, special agent in charge of the Albuquerque FBI, said the agency reached out to Vega in January about participating in the event.

“It kind of goes to what we do, a lot of recruiting, forward to science and technology,” Bujanda said. “Part of what I’m interested in, and what the FBI is interested in when it comes to recruiting, is we want to make sure that we are going after different sectors that aren’t usually the traditional places we would be recruiting from.”

In addition to the federal agency’s sponsorship and recruitment, Vega said he’s most excited by the lineup of guest speakers, which includes Carolina Torres, senior impact producer E-Line Media; Cisco E. Maldonado, head of brand-Americas at NetEase Games; Jorge Lacera, creative director for Studio Lacera; Eduardo Vaisman, audio director for Ubisoft Toronto; and Gricelda Hernandez, content program manager at ID@Xbox.

Bringing the convention to town was a joint effort of the National Hispanic Cultural Center and Hispano Convention and Tourism Department.

“I’m just really excited that we get to host these speakers from across the United States, from both large and small companies that are coming from our background and looking for community to start with,” National Hispanic Cultural Center Executive Director Zackary Quintero said.

“That’s our mission as a center to advance, promote and protect Hispanic and Latino arts,” he said.