BUILDING DIVERSE GLOBAL INTERACTIONS

Alexander Fernandez is a Latino entrepreneur whose passion is building value between the video game and traditional enterprise industries.

He has used that passion to help grow Streamline from a small startup focused on gaming, to a global business with over 180+ employees in 3 continents, and multiple brands under the Streamline Media Group umbrella. He believes that technology must always be a tool that helps people move forward, and the creative economy can be a launching ground for developing markets and economies.

LL: We asked Alexander a few questions and this is what he had to say:

AF: Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, your roots. My mom is from Nicaragua and father from El Salvador. I was born and grew up in rural Utah.My Mom bought me and my twin brother a computer when we were 13. Her hope was that we’d stay out of trouble and learn it to create new opportunities for ourselves. It paid off. Playing games gave me the opportunity to mentally escape my rural surroundings and explore other worlds and ideas. Along the way I became fascinated by the technology involved in game development.

“FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD.” - LATIN PROVERB”

LL: How did the road to becoming CEO of Streamline Media Group look like?

AF: Streamline started 20 years ago with four guys in an apartment in Amsterdam. We were in our early twenties, had a passion for video games and a desire to make our own games. We needed money to do that, so we figured out a way to sell our skills in art and game development. The journey in the early years was feast or famine and there was a lot of struggle to break into the industry.

What kept me going during those tough times was to think about how my family had come to the United States and fought hard to make it work. That gave me the strength and energy to keep going as I realized I was standing on the shoulders of people who really sacrificed to get me to where I was.

LL: How does diversity and inclusion align with the success of your organization?

AF: Streamline was built by diverse partners. None of us are from the same country.

We speak different languages and have different cultures that require all of us to become more understanding towards differences. This set the foundation that attracted people from all over the world and different walks of life that add to the richness of what’s possible for the company. We currently have 25 different languages and 45 different nationalities.

This richness in backgrounds allows us to maneuver globally and to enrich the work we create to vastly different tastes. What has struck me over the past 20 years is how despite our different backgrounds our shared love for creative, technology, and diversity has united so many people together while demonstrating how similar people are.

LL: How can more Latinos get involved in this sector?

AF: I believe deeply you need to see people like yourself succeeding in a given field to know you can do it. Examples and role models matter. More importantly, it comes down to family support and exposure to not just the entertainment side of playing games, but highlighting how they’re made and encouraging STEM education. We don’t just want to be the talent, but the publisher, creator, and IP owner. Streamline recently announced our US expansion with new headquarters in Las Vegas. Working remotely has pushed humanity to adopt tech at a much faster rate—both on a corporate and a personal level—and has expanded the opportunities available to people worldwide.

We believe there is a lot of undiscovered talent out there in the tech industry, particularly in the Americas and in the Latinx community. We are opening our doors to this talent and embracing the opportunities that come with a remote working world.

LL: What is your favorite part about your work?

AF:Watching people grow and surpass their own perceived limitations. I also love creating jobs and working with highly talented people.

LL: What are some projects you are working on right now?

AF: We’re currently developing multiple original games as well as expanding our development platform, Streamframe. Our game services divisions are working on several AAA games for partners in Europe, Japan, and the United States.
Where do you see the future of the gaming industry?

Video games have broken through as an entertainment medium and entered the enterprise space. Big business has taken notice and is utilizing video game technology and their ability to create immersive experiences to reach their customers while also supporting their employees across their operations. This blending of entertainment, business, and immersiveness is transforming the global economy and its only a matter of time that everyone’s lives is touched by gaming..

LL: Favorite quote?

AF I have two: •“Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” - Ernest Hemingway

•“Fortune favors the bold.” -Latin proverb

FUN FACTS:

• Alexander currently serves on the advisory board of Gamescom.

• In 2016, Alexander was accepted into Endeavor, a global network of high-impact entrepreneurs and Harvard Business School OPM program.

• In 2020, Alexander launched Video Games Real Talk, a podcast about the business of video games, the future of the industry, and how the concept of gamification and the metaverse can benefit non-gaming companies in a post-COVID business era.Â

• Streamline recently launched Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow, a video game designed to present the Balenciaga Fall 2021 collection. The COVID pandemic presented Balenciaga an opportunity to lead the fashion industry into new territory by crafting an immersive virtual experience. The game takes players into the year 2031, where they move through five different levels- starting with a Balenciaga store - and encounter avatars showcasing clothing from the new line.