Brazilian Studios Lead the Way as the Future of External Development

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Today, Brazil Games, the Brazilian Games Export Program, which is carried out by Abragames (Brazilian Games Companies Association) in #partnership with ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), wanted to share the great accomplishments that the external development teams of Brazil have achieved. According to the recent XDS 2022 Insights Report, the country of Brazil has skyrocketed to the top of the emerging markets, as developers and publishers have pointed to Brazil as the top up-and-coming region for delivering top-quality external development services for some of the biggest names in the gaming industry. This is yet another feather in the cap for the largest gaming market in LATAM, and the big dogs in the industry are starting to take notice.

"Today, developers, publishers, and investors are looking for Brazilian companies and services providers as big and strong partners, and we are sure that the industry will keep growing exponentially," says #rodrigocarneiro, CEO at PUGA Studios.

With Brazil's Independent Games Festival (BIG Festival) just around the corner, and XDS 2022 following shortly after, exciting things are in the works for the Brazilian development scene, and it's the perfect time to shine a spotlight on some of the most impressive external development studios coming out of Brazil. 

Kokku is one of Brazil's largest co-development company specializing in providing services that include CoDev, FullDev, porting, optimization, remastering and 3D art production for everything from mobile, to consoles to PC games — simply put, Kokku are the folks who get it done. Their team has lent their talent to AAA blockbuster hits such as Horizon Forbidden West and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, delved into world of Roblox with Stranger Things: Starcourt Mall, and provided porting expertise with The Game Awards Best Debut nominee, The Forgotten City. 

"As of today, Brazil has become a rising star for External Development for many reasons. The main reason I like to point it out is the fact we're a country with over 220 million #people. This is an enormous and still untapped talent pool made of passionate gamers who are living their dream of making a living making games," says #thiagodefreitas, Chief Executive Officer at Kokku Games. "Besides being in a stable region — away from major conflicts — Brazil is in a perfect timezone for both European and North American industries (right in the middle!)." 

He continues: "As a member of the Superior Council of Cinema, overlooking and creating public policies for the audiovisual industry, I've been deeply involved in discussions with the Brazilian Government recently. I can tell you they are finally looking at this industry as the future of the Brazilian Audiovisual Industry. Not only because of the massive yearly revenue our industry has, but as a tool for education and social development. I predict Brazil will become the next superpower in game development within the next five years and, for this reason, many big gaming conglomerates (such as Epic Games, who have just made their move in the region) are looking at us and already making plans on setting their feet here."

PUGA Studios is an outsourcing company who are not only known for the outstanding quality of services they provide, but also for their positive, diverse, and inclusive work environment. They have partnered with industry greats such as Gearbox Studios, Nerdvana, Lion Studios, Superplay, and Futureplay (Dice Dreams and Merge Gardens respectively). In collaboration with fellow Brazilian studio AQUIRIS, they partnered with Warner Bros. and Scopely on the wacky turn-based strategy game Looney Tunes World of Mayhem, as well as offered their services to the intensely-chaotic real-time strategy game World War Doh by Jam City and the 3D action-adventure game Wonderbox by AQUIRIS, who Epic Games recently invested in.
 
"We are in the best moment in the Brazilian Game industry. Our growth reflects its constant support from some Brazilian institutions like #abragames, #apexbrasil, and other supporters," says #rodrigocarneiro, Chief Executive Officer at PUGA Studios. "In Recife, northeast Brazil, we have a cluster of service providers companies that have already worked and are working for the top-game industry developers and publishers to create and develop the best games in the world."

Carneiro continues, "PUGA is an example of the current industry growth. In March of 2020, the start of the pandemic here in Brazil, we were 30 #people, and now we are more than 140 fantastic and talented #people. One of our projections is to have more than 200 #people working with us by the end of the year."

But wait, there's more!

Flux Games is a leading professional game studio focused on delivering remarkable gaming experiences that add value, depth, and fun to new and existing IPs such as Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Sage Continues, the official game of the popular Netflix series and the mind-bending 3D puzzler Trenga. 

Another XD studio to keep an eye on is Manifesto Games, who nurtured a passionate team of great talent, resulting in the development, co-development and operations of over 100 games for studios like Bandai Namco, Ubisoft, Zynga, Disney, and so many others. 

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.

Further information in the press release to download