Square Enix, Riot Games, Guerrilla Games, and More at BIG Festival 2022 this July
Best International Games Festival (BIG Festival) 2022 — the largest games festival in Latin America which runs from July 7 to July 10 — is right around the corner 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), are excited to offer a glimpse to what will be coming when the Festival returns as a hybrid event this summer! With more than 120 sessions by the best professionals from the games industry, over 200 games available to play, and more than 300 confirmed speakers from the industry’s leading professionals, BIG Festival 2022 is ramping up to be another record-breaking success.
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.
BIG Festival 2022 celebrates the release and promotion of games in Latin America, and this year they offer over 200 games available to play both in-person and online. In addition, they are hosting a competition featuring 92 carefully selected games from more than 30 countries. But that’s not all! There will be over 300 speakers from industry leaders, like Square Enix, Devolver Digital, Guerrilla Games, Riot Games, Humble, ESPN Brasil, and many more. As a valuable space for newcomers to the industry and veterans alike, BIG Festival has been home to lectures, awards, and business meetings, as well as the presence by the industry’s leading publishers and investors.
These are just a few of the companies and speakers that will be present at BIG Festival 2022:
- Takashi Tokita – Producer at Square Enix (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.
- Lennart Franken & Tom Delboo – Guerrilla Games: This presentation breaks down the process of creating and building the iconic machines seen in the Horizon franchise. The presentation also details the role of outsourcing in this process, and how this external effort complimented the work done at Guerrilla.
- David Lam – Director of Art Management at Riot Games (League of Legends), Lam will discuss how to have a long and satisfying career in the video game industry, offering tips and advice he learned from his experience in the industry.
- Sithe Ncube – Strategic Advisor at Humble Game’s Black Game Developer Fund, Associate Producer at Nyamakop, Ncube will speak about how we can learn from the stories and insights of industry professionals relating to the topic of diversity in the games industry. From mentorship to other initiatives, the panelists will explore the successes, challenges, and issues the industry faces and how it impacts the Global South as well as the future generation of game developers.
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 its 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.
