Brazil is the 13th-largest video game market in the world as of 2021, and the largest in Latin America, with a revenue of 1.3 billion US dollars. Video games were not permitted for import into Brazil until the 1990s, and were then heavily taxed as non-essential goods. As a result, a

grey market A grey market or dark market (sometimes confused with the similar term " parallel market") is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels that are not authorized by the original manufacturer or trade mark proprietor. Grey market pr ...

developed around pirating games, driven by the lack of official channels for purchasing games. Many game companies avoided expansion into the country for these reasons until 2009. An exception was Sega, which retained a strong foothold in the country with the Master System and

Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan a ...

. Blaming high tariffs, Nintendo officially left the market in 2015, but returned in 2017, though Nintendo actually returned in 2020 with Nintendo Switch. In a three-episode series named ''Red Bull Parallels'', Red Bull explored the country's relation with gaming.

Censorship

In January 2008, the marketing of ''

Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking, assassination) while counter-terrorists try to preve ...

'' was prohibited in the Brazilian territory by judicial decision. The judge argued that Counter-Strike and ''

EverQuest ''EverQuest'' is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows PCs. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North Amer ...

'' games subvert social order. It has since been lifted, although ''EverQuest'' is still illegal in physical form in

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

Video game development

Video game development exists in Brazil since as early as 1983, when Renato Degiovani developed the first computer games in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

called "''Aventuras na Selva''" (later renamed ''Amazônia'') and "''Aeroporto 83''" (Airport 83) for a computer specialized magazine called "Micro Sistemas". Several years have passed with little to no significant development until the 2000s, when several companies started creating

advergames An advergame is a form of advertising in video games, in which the video game is developed by or in close collaboration with a corporate entity for purposes of advertising a brand-name product. While other video games may use in-game advertising (s ...

and/or

MMORPGs A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a character (o ...

, and universities started offering game development degrees. Hoplon was one of the first to be successful in the industry with

Taikodom ''Taikodom'' was a computer game by Brazilian developer Hoplon Infotainment. Considered by the developers to be a ''Massive Social Game'' rather than MMORPG, Taikodom featured a persistent online outer space environment. In 2007, an English vers ...

. The 2010s have been marked by a growing number of studios getting bigger relevance with proprietary indie game titles. The BIG Festival (Brazilian Independent Games Festival) was conceived in 2012 and is held every year in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, gathering game industry professionals from the country and abroad and promoting indie titles for the Brazilian market. The biggest game dev scenes are from

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

and

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

Game developers from Brazil

Defunct game developers from Brazil

Game publishers from Brazil

Defunct game publishers from Brazil

Media

Print Media * EGM Brasil, since 2002 * Nintendo World, since 1998 * Revista Xbox 360, since 2008

Brazilian video game rating

The

ClassInd The Brazilian Advisory Rating ( pt, Classificação Indicativa, abbreviated ClassInd) is a content rating system for the classification of movies, games and television programs. The ClassInd rating system is controlled by the Advisory Rating Coor ...

(advisory rating) is the institute responsible for the software given for review on Brazil.

References

External links

ABRAGAMES (Brazilian Association of Game Developers)
*

(Also includes ABRAGAMES section. Check newsletters page under Information tab for company details.)
ACIGAMES (Commercial, Industrial and Cultural Gaming Association)

ADJOGOSRS (Associação dos Desenvolvedores de Jogos Digitais do Rio Grande do Sul)
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