What had started as a simple invitation of a friend to play video games turned out to be a “Business Tour” and a very interesting interview with the Chief Designer and Workflow Manager of Alebrije Estudios in Monterrey, Mexico. 

I went to Monterrey, Mexico to visit my friends and relatives, eat goat (i.e., the traditional dish of the region) and walk on “Paseo Santa Lucía” (i.e., one of the trendiest places in the city). While there, I also had the opportunity to visit Alebrije Estudios a young video game development company, comprised by very talented people. 

When my friend Joe called me and invited me to play video games, I thought we were going to meet at his house. But when he text messaged me the address, I realized that it was going to be in a different place. I did not say anything. I just drove, parked and when I arrived to this place, he opened the door and said in a proudly, but still funny way: “Welcome to Alebrije Estudios!  I am Joe Alanis, Chief Designer and Worlkflow Manager".

As soon as I got in, he showed me every corner of their offices. I thought it was a good time for an interview, so I started asking him questions:

Here is the interview:

Victor Velasquez: How would you describe Alebrije? What are the main services?

Joe Alanis: We make video games. We are focused on developing Great Stories behind them. We create artwork for our clients, whether it is 2D or 3D.

VV: How did Alebrije started as a company? And what is its vision?

JA: Well, Alebrije was born more than seven years ago, when a group of friends started dreaming about making video games. Back then,  they knew it was a difficult task. So they figured, instead of making video games, let’s begin with the story behind it. That's how the concept behind “Mekur's Name”  was born. We began writing a novel of the “Mighty Chronicles in the world of Nëa”. "Mekur's Name" is a Role Playing Game (RPG) in which you discover "The universe of Nëa," and learn with Mekur (a small giant with long seasons of sleep) about his life.

VV: Ok, so you are saying that everything started with a story…

JA: Yes, seven years ago.

VV: So, the story came first and then the idea of creating a videogame with it?

J.A: We wanted to create the full video game but settled with the story back then, since we didn’t have the tools. But things are different now. Now we've established a product roadmap for our company .We consider our industry a very complex one and we know the process of video game production is going to keep us learning every day.

V.V: And what is the vision for the company?

JA:To become an industry leader. And even more, to nourish the industry in our country. It is in diapers.

VV: Are there any competitors in Mexico?

JA: There are a few. There are some companies which develop full video games in association with animation studios and there are other companies which outsource specific processes. Mexico is full of talent, and our intention is to tap into this talent.

VV: What are the challenges that you have encountered so far?

JA: Well, as I’ve said, the industry is new right now. Some of the challenges have been to make the industry self aware and to know other companies in the industry, and not only know them, but talk with them. The good thing is Mexican companies don’t consider each other as competitors in this arena, but allies. Our small industry is making a big effort to come together.

VV: So, have you partnered with any other company?

JA: Yes, right now we're on the verge of signing a deal to make a cluster of companies and that will help us have bigger projects.

VV: What is the greatest achievement of Alebrije Estudios?

JA: To find people committed to creativity. Right now we are developing our first project and we have a large amount of concepts documented and polished ready to production. We're also very proud of the acceptance we've been getting, helping us win a couple of international awards, one of them in Colombia. Alebrije got us across the planet. We've been to Taipei. Our project was very well accepted among the Taiwanese.

VV: Very impressive! Congratulations! What do you think are your main talents? And how are you learning more skills?

JA: Concept creation, storyboarding, art creation… And for the learning... we do it all, we continue taking workshops, we teach ourselves… The Internet is very helpful too. And the process is never-ending because our tools are very specific. No one teaches how to use a game engine in school or the language it uses, or how to make it all come together.

VV: And what about technology? What kind of infrastructure does Alebrije Estudios have?

JA: Well we've licensed some 3D tools and some 2D tools for art creation: Maya, Pixologic Zbrush and, Adobe Flash and even Autodesk. For the game engine, we've licensed Torque Game Engine, in many flavors, 2D and 3D, and for a different number of consoles or platforms and that alone lets us create just about any kind of game we think of.

VV: What hardware do you use? Any special devices?

JA: We use PCs and Macs. Artists are very fond of Apple. And we also need it, since we know Macintosh is becoming very strong. We plan on making games for Mac OS and iPhone. We use drawing technology from pencil and paper, Wacom tablets and Wacom displays and we never stop playing.

JA: What do you say about "Left 4 Dead" instead?

VV: Ok, lets chill and play... and thank you for the Interview dude!

JA: Sure! Let me pass you the XBox controller. Press Start.