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July 5, 2022

5 Min Read

[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Game Developer and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press]

Author: BIG Festival

Best Independent Games Festival (BIG Festival) 2022 — the largest independent games festival in Latin America — is just a few days away and Brazil Games (the Brazilian Games Export Program), which is carried out by Abragames (Brazilian Games Companies Association) and ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), wanted to share some of the exciting events that are taking place at the São Paulo Expo.


Returning as a hybrid event from July 7 to July 10, 2022, BIG Festival 2022 is offering more than 120 sessions by the best professionals from the games industry, over 200 games available to play, and over 500 confirmed speakers, including some of the industry’s leading professionals.

 
Tickets for the in-person event happening at the São Paulo Expo may be purchased via the official website. Those who wish to attend online may do so starting on July 6, 2022.

 
With more than 500 speakers by the industry’s leading professionals confirmed, here are just a handful of some of the great panelists that will be at BIG Festival 2022:

 

  • Shuhei Yoshida – Sony Interactive Entertainment. Join the 30-plus-year Sony veteran and renowned software developer, where he will cover various topics surrounding PlayStation’s support for indies, including why PlayStation believes indie games are important for the industry, the history of PlayStation’s support of game creators, and recent examples of activities under PlayStation Indies initiative.
     

  • Adrien Cho & Michael Paul – Microsoft. AAA projects usually include collaboration with the best external development studios around the world. In this presentation, hear from the perspectives of Xbox Game Studios, including 343 Industries and The Coalition in relation to finding and working with talent across regions and cultures.
     

  • Chris Wren – Electronic Arts, Inc. Wren is a member of EA’s XDI team, supporting the external development needs of the organization. Learn about External Development from four of the top Brazilian studios in the space. Joined by Augusto Santana (PUGA Studios), Daniel Monastero (DX Gameworks), Paulo Luis Santos (Flux Games), and Thiago de Freitas (Kokku), they will address their journeys in terms of how they have grown, major lessons learned along the way, their experience working with AAA international clients and the future state of External Development in Brazil.
     

  • Takashi Tokita – Producer at SquareEnix (Live A Live, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV).  Join Tokita in this session where he will talk about the history and evolution of JRPGs, speaking on some of the iconic titles he has been involved with.



BIG Festival is the main event for the release and promotion of games in Latin America. In 2022, more than 200 games will be available to play in-person and online, including Festival finalists such as:

 

  • Chernobylite (The Farm 51 & All In! Games) – nominated for Best Game & Best Gameplay
     

  • Backbone (Eggnut & Raw Fury) – nominated for Best Game, Best Sound, Best Art, Best Narrative, & Best Gameplay
     

  • Greak: Memories of Azur (Navegante Entertainment & Team17) – nominated for Best Game, Best Game: Latin America, Best Art, & Best Gameplay
     

  • Kukoos: Lost Pets (Petit Fabrik) – nominated for Best Game, Best Game: Brazil, Best Sound, Best Art, & Best Gameplay
     

  • One Hand Clapping (Bad Dream Games & HandyGames) – nominated for Best Game, Innovation, Best Sound, & Best Gameplay 


Despite the setbacks caused by the pandemic and the shift to an online-only format, BIG Festival 2021 achieved record-breaking numbers — making it the most successful iteration of the event in it’s 10-year history. With over 70 hours of bilingual content, in Portuguese and English, the event was broadcast live with more than 300 speakers and 545 companies across 64 countries, with over 5,000 meetings scheduled. The estimated value of business generated from BIG Festival 2021 alone generated over $65 million USD in revenue.
 
Last year’s event generated a staggering amount of business partnerships and opportunities with 5,642 business meetings between developers and publishers. With industry giants like Epic and Nintendo forming close relationships and partnerships with Brazilian Studios, BIG Festival is an incredible opportunity for business development in one of the hottest gaming markets in the world.
 
Brazil is now the largest market by games revenues in LATAM and #12 in the world in 2022. The $2.3 billion (USD) Brazilian games industry has seen explosive growth over the last several years, with the number of local gamers reaching a staggering 94.7 million as of 2021. The mobile gaming market accounts for nearly half the revenue, and is the fastest-growing sector, however, both console and PC account for $657 million and $556 million respectively.
 
Follow Brazil Games on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to learn more about the many talented studios and companies, and to keep up to date with their achievements.
 
A full press kit can be found here: https://uberstrategist.link/BrazilGames_Presskit.
 
We would really appreciate it if you could help spread the word about BIG Festival 2022 and the awesome things happening in Brazil. If you have any questions or would like to interview a member from Brazil Games about BIG Festival 2022, the growth of the Brazilian industry, or any of their other plans for 2022, please let us know and we’d be more than happy to set up a chat.

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