Presented by Xsolla
Latin America’s game industry is shifting as studios across the region push beyond outsourcing work and toward publishing, financing, and building original projects.
During GB Live at gamescom latam presented by Xsolla, GamesBeat editorial director Dean Takahashi spoke with Xsolla LATAM Area VP Alessandro Biollo Menjivar and Wildlife Studios Director of Studio Partnerships and Publishing Luiz Piccini about the evolution of the region’s development ecosystem. The conversation explored how Latin American developers are moving up the value chain as local studios expand into publishing, financing, and larger-scale operations.
“The greatest games in the world are handcrafted in Latin America,” Biollo said. “All those Triple-A games you see in the market.”
For years, outsourcing and co-development work helped fuel growth across the region due to exchange rates and lower operating costs.
“Now there is a shift to learning about the business side of things,” Biollo said. “Learning about the ropes of the video game business.”
Xsolla and Wildlife Studios
Biollo pointed to Wildlife Studios as one example of that evolution. Founded in 2011, the Brazilian mobile developer has grown into one of the largest gaming companies in the region through titles such as Zooba and Tennis Clash.
“[Brazil] moved up the food chain,” Piccini said. “[The country] started with freelancing, basically outsourcing, co-development. Now some of the biggest studios are trying to do publishing, financing, or even bigger operations. When you do that you get more leeway to tell your own story.”
That storytelling opportunity, Piccini said, is one of the region’s greatest strengths. Developers across countries from Brazil to Mexico to Ecuador are increasingly building games inspired by their own cultures and lived experiences as Latin America’s industry gains more global visibility.
Wildlife Studios set out to be a global company, according to Piccini. He shared a rough estimation of their revenue sources, including the fact that the studio receives large portions of its revenue from North America, Western Europe, and parts of Asia.
“We are not overrepresented in Brazil,” Piccini said. “Brazil is less than 2% of the gaming market, and it represents close to that in our revenue as well. That’s because we were always thinking globally”
Wildlife Studios has built a portfolio spanning puzzle, sports, and action games. No matter the genre, Piccini said part of the studio’s Brazilian heritage inevitably finds its way into the final product.
The conversation comes as GamesBeat expands its coverage of the region through its new Latin America special report, Unlocking the Future of Video Games in Latin America, which explores the developers, investors, and business leaders driving one of the fastest-growing markets in games.The report is sponsored by Xsolla.
This article and the GamesBeat Live session it covers were sponsored by Xsolla.