Video games in Brazil

Brazil is the 13th-largest video game market in the world as of 2021, and the largest in Latin America, with a revenue of 1.3 billion US dollars.[1] Video games were not permitted for import into Brazil until the 1990s, and were then heavily taxed as non-essential goods. As a result, a grey market developed around pirating games, driven by the lack of official channels for purchasing games. Many game companies avoided expansion into the country for these reasons until 2009.[2] An exception was Sega, which retained a strong foothold in the country with the Master System and Mega Drive.[3] Blaming high tariffs, Nintendo officially left the market in 2015, but returned in 2017,[4] though Nintendo actually returned in 2020 with Nintendo Switch. In a three-episode series named Red Bull Parallels, Red Bull explored the country's relation with gaming.[5]

Censorship

In January 2008, the marketing of Counter-Strike was prohibited in the Brazilian territory by judicial decision. The judge argued that Counter-Strike and EverQuest games subvert social order.[6]

It has since been lifted, although EverQuest is still illegal in physical form in Minas Gerais.

Video game development

Video game development exists in Brazil since as early as 1983, when Renato Degiovani developed the first computer games in Portuguese called "Aventuras na Selva" (later renamed Amazônia) and "Aeroporto 83" (Airport 83) for a computer specialized magazine called "Micro Sistemas".[7][8] Several years have passed with little to no significant development until the 2000s, when several companies started creating advergames and/or MMORPGs, and universities started offering game development degrees. Hoplon was one of the first to be successful in the industry with Taikodom.

The 2010s have been marked by a growing number of studios getting bigger relevance with proprietary indie game titles. The BIG Festival (Brazilian Independent Games Festival) was conceived in 2012 and is held every year in São Paulo, gathering game industry professionals from the country and abroad and promoting indie titles for the Brazilian market.[9]

The biggest game dev scenes are from São Paulo, Porto Alegre and Brasília.

Game developers from Brazil
Company Location Founded
1M Bits Horde São Paulo 2020
Abdução São Paulo 2003
Aoca Game Lab Bahia 2016
Aquiris Porto Alegre 2007
Asantee Games Campo Grande 2012
Bad Minions
(Also co-devs)		 Brasília 2012
Behold Studios Brasília 2009
Coffeenauts São Paulo 2017
Continuum Entertainment Curitiba 1998
Double Dash Studios Rio de Janeiro 2013
Duaik Entretenimento São Paulo 2009
Fira Soft
(Also co-devs)		 Brasília 2012
Flux Games
(Also co-devs)		 São Paulo 2012
Garage 227 Studios
(Mainly co-devs)		 São Paulo 2014
Glitch Factory Brasília 2012
Hoplon Infotainment Florianópolis 2000
Infinite Hole São Paulo 2017
Insolita Studios / Webcore Games São Paulo 2004
Invent4 Entertainment Porto Alegre 2008
JoyMasher Curitiba 2012
Jynx Playware Recife 2000
Loomiarts São Leopoldo 2017
Ludact São Paulo 2005
Mad Mimic Interactive São Paulo 2017
Mito Games (Also co-devs)
(Ex-Enem Game)		 Vitória 2016
Moonana (Ex-Nana Moon) Curitiba 2017
MTI Studios Botafogo 2011
Oktagon Games Londrina 2004
Orbit Studio São Paulo 2016
Pocket Trap São Paulo 2013
Pulsatrix Studios São Paulo 2018
QUARTZO Game Studio Porto Alegre 2020
Regular Studio Brazil
(Countryside)		 2018
Reiza Studios Maringá 2009
Rogue Snail Brazil
(Distributed)		 2013
Rumbora Party Games Bahia 2018
Skullfish Studios São Paulo 2016
Smash Mountain Studio
(Also co-devs)		 Rio de Janeiro 2016
Studio Pixel Punk São Paulo 2017
Sue The Real Studio São Paulo 2018
Swordtales Porto Alegre 2011
Team Zeroth Bahia 2014
Tectoy Campinas 1987
Webcore Games
(Also co-devs)		 São Paulo 1999
Wondernaut Studio Porto Alegre 2020
Yellow Panda Games Balneário Camboriú 2017
Online-only Games
Company Location Founded
INSANE Game Studio São Paulo 2009
Primarily Mobile/Casual Games
Company Location Founded
Afterverse Games Campinas 2021
Fanatee São Paulo 2013
Gazeus Games Rio de Janeiro 2006
Izyplay Game Studio
 Rio Grande do Sul 2010
Javary Studios São Paulo 2018
Monomyto Studio
(Also co-devs)		 Campo Grande 2017
Pandora Game Studio Rio de Janeiro 2012
Pipa Studios São Paulo 2012
Pixodust Games São Paulo 2018
Space Sheep Games São Paulo 2020
Tapps Games São Paulo 2010[10]
Wildlife Studios São Paulo 2011
Co-development Services
Company Location Founded
Aiyra Niterói 2006
BitCake Studio Rio de Janeiro 2013
Diorama Digital Recife 2013
Kokku Recife 2011
Lumen Games Aracaju 2004
Manifesto Games Recife 2005
VRMonkey Brazil 2014
PUGA Studios Recife 2013
PushStart Studio São Paulo 2014
Studio ZYX São Paulo 2013
Umbu Games Belo Horizonte 2015
VRMonkey São Paulo 2015
Yupi Studios João Pessoa 2015
Educational/Misc Games
Company Location Founded Type
Eludica São Paulo 2005 Game-based solutions for education, training and health
Flying Saci Game Studio Manaus 2015 Edutainment, media projects, AR/VR apps
Gaz Games Belo Horizonte 2011 development of games, digital marketing actions, applications, augmented reality, 3D modeling and animations

Defunct game developers from Brazil
Company Location Founded Defunct
Bitter Byte Games São Paulo 2012 2014[11][12]
Black River Studios (Also co-devs) Manaus 2014 2021 (Inactive afterwards)
Cruel Byte (Also co-devs) São Paulo 2015 2017 (Inactive afterwards)
Cupcake Entertainment Porto Alegre 2012 2018 (Inactive afterwards)
Espaço Informática Porto Alegre 1999 2010[13][14]
Fire Horse Studio (Also co-devs) São Paulo 2012 2019 (Inactive afterwards)
Ilusis Interactive Graphics Belo Horizonte 2008 2016 (Inactive afterwards)
Luderia Santa Maria 2012 2020[15]
Messier Games & Animations (Also co-devs) São Paulo 2014 2021 (Inactive afterwards)
O2 Games Belo Horizonte 2005 2017 (Closed)
Reload Game Studio São Paulo 2013 2015 (Website went down)[16]
Sinergia Studios (Also co-devs) Ribeirão Preto 2014 2019 (Inactive afterwards)
Sunland Entertainment Studios Belo Horizonte 2014 2021 (Closed)
T4 Interactive São Paulo 2016 2022 (Closed)

Game publishers from Brazil
Company Location Founded Type
Devcats Games Flores da Cunha 2021 Publisher & dev
Level Up Brasil São Paulo 2004 distributor
Minicactus Games Lauro de Freitas 2020 Publisher & dev
Pixel Game Studio São Bernardo do Campo 2016 Publisher & dev
QUByte Interactive São Paulo 2009 Developer, Porting & Publishing

Defunct game publishers from Brazil
Company Location Founded Defunct
NC Games & Entertainment Barueri 1994 2017 (Inactive afterwards)

Media

Print Media

Brazilian video game rating

The ClassInd (advisory rating) is the institute responsible for the software given for review on Brazil.

See also

References
  1. "The Brazilian Gamer | 2017 | Newzoo". Newzoo. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  2. Teixeira, Marcelo (2 October 2015). "The Market for Video Games in Brazil". Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  3. "Brazil Is An Alternate Video Game Universe Where Sega Beat Nintendo". 27 July 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  4. Good, Owen S. (10 January 2015). "Nintendo ends console and game distribution in Brazil, citing high taxes". Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  5. Partridge, Jon. "Watch our video history of gaming in Brazil". Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  6. Folha Online – Informática – Justiça proíbe Counter Strike em todo Brasil; Procon tenta recolher jogos – 18/01/2008. .folha.uol.com.br. Retrieved on 7 May 2011.
  7. "Conheça Renato Degiovani: o pioneiro na indústria de games no Brasil". TechTudo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  8. "Entrevista: Renato Degiovani, o primeiro desenvolvedor brasileiro de jogos – Gizmodo Brasil". gizmodo.uol.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  9. "BIG Festival 2017 | Brazil's Independent Games Festival". bigfestival.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  10. "Tapps Games official website (2023)". Tapps Games. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  11. "Wallace Nogueira's LinkedIn bio". LinkedIn. Microsoft. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  12. "Osmar M Junior's LinkedIn bio". LinkedIn. Microsoft. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  13. "Espaço Informática's Hades 2 page". Espaço Informática's official website w/ Hades 2. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  14. "Espaço Informática's About page". Espaço Informática's official website. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  15. "Luderia's official website (2019)". Play Luderia. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  16. "Reload Game Studio's website". Archived from the original on 29 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
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