Best Independent Games Festival (BIG Festival) 2022 — the largest independent games festival in Latin America — has officially kicked off and here is what’s happening this weekend! 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), is here to provide a guide to the hottest speakers, games, and events happening each day of the event!
BIG Festival 2022 is offering more than 120 sessions by the best professionals from the games industry, over 200 games available to play, more than 200 games available to play in-person and online, and over 500 confirmed speakers from the industry’s leading professionals. Tickets for the in-person event happening at the São Paulo Expo may be purchased via the official website.
Here’s what’s happening on Days Three and Four of BIG Festival, July 9-10, 2022:
- Discover the Best Brazilian Games at BIG 2022 — Come watch the selection of the Best Brazilian Games selected at BIG Festival 2022! Meet the 11 finalist games and the big winner of 2022!
- Video Game Accessibility — Almost 20% of the Brazilian population has some type of disability and this number only tends to increase with the aging of the population. Video games are a form of socialization that allows people with disabilities to socialize, interact and have unique experiences. Join Christian Rivolta Bernauer (AbleGamers Brasil) who will discuss ways to make games more accessible in general and their impacts on the gaming market.
- World of Warships – Big Announcement of Brazilian Content — Join Gustavo Costa (Wargaming) and witness the biggest announcement of World of Warships for Brazil ever made, in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Brazil’s Independence. Be the first to know the details of several new contents depicting a variety of historical and regional heritage sites based in the 1940s and 1950s.
- From FINAL FANTASY IV to LIVE A LIVE: My Journey of J-RPG — Takashi Tokita (Square Enix) is currently a producer, but in his NES days he was a pixel artist. He has been creating games for more than 30 years, working as a game designer during the SNES era. This July, his first directed work, LIVE A LIVE will be remade and released with a new HD-2D artstyle. Join Tokita on this session, where he will talk about the history and evolution of J-RPGs, introducing some of the titles he has been involved with.
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.
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