“We had to deconstruct the actual show,” said Nathaniel McClure, CEO of SPE. “It’s this guy surviving in the wild — we boiled it down to two key components: food and water. You have to constantly manage and gauge those components.”

McClure, who has worked on such titles as Call of Duty, Tom Clancy, Command & Conquer and Guitar Hero, founded SPE in 2009 and is headquartered in Farmington Hills, Mich. McClure said one aspect that has made the move from his former location in Los Angeles successful thus far has been the relationship his company has been able to build with MSU.

Brian Winn, the director of the Games for Entertainment and Learning Lab at MSU, said his class of close to 30 students had the opportunity to work alongside McClure and his staff in developing certain aspects of the game.

Winn said the relationship with SPE started in the spring of 2010 and allows the students in the program to work with design, programming and artistic components of video games.

“In terms of the class, (McClure) brought lots of credibility and lots of experiences he could share in the educational setting of the class,” Winn said. “Part of the collaboration with the client was not just getting experience working on a project, but to have the client come in and share their knowledge and experience with the class.”

The future of SPE is unknown as Gov. Rick Snyder ordered a $25 million cap on the film tax incentive program with his new budget proposal, which limits opportunities for companies to produce projects in the state. McClure said he started his operation in Michigan in part to take advantage of the incentives, which also can apply to video games.

McClure said “Man vs. Wild: The Game” was the first game where he applied for the incentives, and later he was denied in receiving them.

Although the incentives were a crucial part in McClure’s move to Michigan, he said he’s looking for other revenue streams and alternative methods to make his company successful moving forward.

“I like it up here besides (the incentives), but that’s why I came up here and that’s a huge part of my five-year plan,” he said. “Now that it’s up in the air, it’s incredibly difficult.”

McClure said he plans to stick around in Michigan to build his company while continuing to educate students on the world of video game entertainment. The opportunity to work with students going into the same industry and form relationships with them makes building a company in Michigan much more enjoyable, McClure said.

“(McClure has) been able to work with Michigan State, and he has a relationship with Discovery Networks,” said Ken Droz, the publicist for the game.

“It’s a big step forward for Michigan and the video games and the technological aspect of film and television entertainment.”