Brazilian gamers turn their attention — and spending — to free-to-play

In Brazil, a PlayStation 4 costs nearly as much as a decent used Toyota, so gamers in that nation are turning to the free-to-play business model to get their fix.

The market for free PC games with microtransactions is growing in Brazil, according to market-research firm Interpret (as first reported by Yahoo Finance). The South American nation has 51.5 million people between the ages of 13 and 65 that play games. And 33 percent of them, more than 17 million, play free-to-play PC releases. That’s up 20 percent from 14.1 million in the previous year. Interpret estimates that Brazil’s consumers spend $470 million on free PC games like League of Legends and Team Fortress 2 that feature in-app purchases. Publishers are investing more in Brazil as its economy is quickly coming online and is potentially worth billions.