The latest of our series of Playable Futures articles hit GamesIndustry.biz yesterday written by our friend and colleague, Will Freeman.
Download the full PDF interview
In his piece he explores Brazil’s games industry by talking to Eliana Russi and Rogrigo Terra - Director of Operations and President of Brazil’s trade body - Abragames (Associação Brasileira das Desenvolvedoras de Jogos Digitais).
Besides the brilliantly simple acronym - we enjoyed this piece because Eliana and Rodrigo speak with such a positive, progressive outlook about what Brazilian games can bring to the global gaming scene.
As Will says in the piece “Today Brazil in particular is looking to lend a new perspective to what the overall games industry can be. It’s looking to shape and inform how games are designed, made and published; all while taking its own lessons from the international industry community.”
It’s hard to imagine the inauspicious start gaming had in Brazil. Back when people were playing PaRappa the Rapper and GoldenEye, harsh tariffs were slapped on imported consoles, which made gaming a difficult hobby to access. Brazilian gamers were forced to turn to “a distinct generation of local clone consoles” which meant that “the gaming medium’s potential was effectively stifled across the country.” It would be intriguing to see what those clone consoles looked like, though, wouldn’t it?
However - as the Diva crew know only too well – the will to game runs deep. In the years since, many dedicated local developers – with the backing of their Trade Body (established in 2004) — have chipped away until the country stood as the 12th largest games market globally, with a value of $2.3 billion in mid-2021.
This piece about Abra and Brazil fits beautifully within the Playable Futures series because it shines another light on the business of making games right now and in the future. Eliana and Rogrigo discuss how their mission is to work in tandem with Brazil’s developers to build and strengthen the local sector. They are proud of their deep, Brazilian roots, as well as highlighting Brazil’s global outlook.
As Will puts it ,”the power of multiculturalism in terms of talent, creativity and collaboration is tremendous… And, informed by multiculturalism and an international mindset, it might be a place that has an impact on how everyone in games does their work.”
As long-time natives of this gloriously international business - where games can be made by teams in several different countries and marketing campaigns are routinely coordinated across the continents - we at Diva are excited about what this globalist Brazilian outlook can bring to all our Playable Futures.
