Gamescom Latam attendance up by 17.5% in 2026

The third version of Gamescom Latam drew 154,000 guests, up 17.5% on 2025. Final yr the present attracted 130,000 attendees, up 30% on the primary version of the occasion in 2024.

Gamescom Latam happened between April 29 and Could 3 on the Distrito Anhembi in São Paulo, Brazil, and featured greater than 400 video games, together with over 60 new releases, akin to Lego Batman: Legacy of the Darkish Knight, Invincible VS, and Phantom Blade Zero. A complete of 175 exhibitors from 23 nations have been on the present, in addition to greater than 500 audio system, together with PUBG’s Brendan Greene, former Uncommon composer David Clever, and Management Resonant inventive director Mikael Kasurinen.

The BIG Competition Awards acquired greater than 960 recreation submissions from 75 nations, with Brazil accounting for 451 submissions. Eighty-one titles have been chosen as finalists throughout 18 classes, with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 profitable Greatest Recreation.

Within the B2B space, there have been 1,100 firms from 59 nations, and greater than 13,000 enterprise conferences have been held – a 46% improve in comparison with the earlier yr. An estimated $180 million in new enterprise was generated on the occasion.

“Brazil is already the main hub for the video games trade in the International South and an especially robust shopper market,” stated Gamescom Latam companion and head of B2B Eliana Russi in a press release. “At Gamescom Latam, our function is to strengthen and increase this ecosystem – connecting buyers, consumers, publishers, accelerators, and studios from around the globe.”

“With greater than 1,000 recreation improvement studios distributed throughout Brazil, the nation demonstrates a singular attain, with inventive hubs unfold all through all areas.”

GamesIndustry.biz was at Gamescom Latam, and had an opportunity to talk with Rodrigo Terra, head of the Brazilian recreation builders’ affiliation Abragames, and Patricia Sato, govt supervisor for Brasil Video games, an export program that goals to foster new worldwide enterprise alternatives for Brazilian firms.

Terra emphasises the sheer scale and development of the Brazilian video games trade, which presently options greater than 13,000 people – an identical measurement to France’s video games trade. He says that sometimes studios are likely to give attention to exterior improvement or outsourcing to start out with.

“If you begin small right here, you possibly can’t [exactly choose] if you are going to develop your personal IP, ” he says. “In comparison with European nations or different areas in the world, we [don’t have too many] alternatives for public funds or help. We’re engaged on it. So it’s good to do issues that provide you with income in the quick time period after which plan your long run. So IP improvement is the long run that each studio right here desires to do.”

Sato says that Brazil has a rising repute as a location for contract work. “We’re all the time cited as considered one of these fundamental territories to speculate for exterior improvement,” she says. “Particularly after the pandemic, as a result of Brazil was very a lot able to tackle the demand of a number of bigger firms that discovered themselves in the scenario of not having the ability or not having sufficient individuals to finish their initiatives. Brazil was able to embrace this.”

Terra acknowledges that improvement in Brazil is not as low cost as in nations like India or China, however he says that it may be significantly cheaper than in nations like america, United Kingdom, or France. “So it places us in an excellent place.”

Importantly, he sees that Brazilian studios are more and more being trusted with bigger chunks of a recreation’s manufacturing. “Now, [contract after contract], we’re seeing that entire jobs are being given to the studios right here.”

However alongside exterior improvement, Terra says Brazilian firms are more and more being recognised for their very own authentic IP. “Should you discuss with all these worldwide gamers which are right here [at Gamescom Latam], like PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo, [they’re] not simply shopping for companies anymore,” he says. “If you discuss with them, they are saying, ‘No, I need to test not simply companies, however now I need new video games.'”

By way of the longer term for the Brazilian video games trade, Terra says the goal is to open up extra alternatives for public funding for initiatives and corporations, in addition to elevating consciousness of Brazil as a spot for funding. He sees tax incentives as a key step – Abragames is lobbying for a 12% rebate on workers’ taxes, and he provides that Brazil already offers some tax incentives for arts and tradition initiatives below the Rouanet Legislation.

His feedback echo these of Russi, who emphasised the necessity for tax incentives, in addition to calling for out of doors funding. “Present me the cash,” she stated in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. “All we want is cash. Now we have the whole lot: a powerful affiliation, public coverage is already in a framework, we’ve got a powerful occasion the place you possibly can market your recreation or you possibly can meet. … And so present me the cash. Now we have the whole lot. I assure.”