The Key to Unlocking Brazil's Gaming Industry: Supporting Indie Developers

Juliana Brito, co-founder and CEO of Indie Hero, recounts how her business partner Ian Rochlin's appearance on Shark Tank Brazil led to the creation of their accelerator program. Rochlin's unconventional pitch, where he asked for a mere $R1 investment, paid off, and the duo secured support from investors, paving the way for Indie Hero. Indie Hero primarily serves as a platform connecting Brazilian developers with investors. However, the company soon realized that many studios were not prepared to receive funding, prompting them to expand their support services to include pitch training, self-publishing guidance, and more. "We identified other needs for indie developers, so we started organizing B2B events and the Brazilian Game Fest, a B2C event that helps studios grow their social media presence," Brito explains. "Our mission is to enable anyone who wants to make a living from game development to do so. The industry is large enough, and there's sufficient money in it to provide opportunities for everyone." With 1,500 mentors worldwide, Game Jam Plus and Indie Hero provide support to emerging talent. The company also assists Brazilian developers in setting up their studios from a practical perspective, as they often focus on game development rather than the business aspect. "The biggest challenge for Brazilian game developers is to see themselves as entrepreneurs," Brito notes. "They face many obstacles in understanding that building a business around their game is essential. This can take years, and sometimes they need to find a business partner or realize they must do it themselves." The recent adoption of a legal framework for games in Brazil has been a significant step forward. Brazil has a fertile ground for the gaming industry, with 120 million players and growing. "We are the tenth-largest game economy in the world, and there's a huge opportunity for us to cater to our own market with regionally relevant games," Brito says. Brito organizes the Brasília Game Festival, which has seen increasing enthusiasm for indie games. "We had 60,000 attendees, and the indie alley was one of the most visited areas. We had 36 indie studios, and they were fully booked, with many making sales and experiencing an average 800% growth in social media followers. This shows there's a public appetite for indie games, but indie developers struggle to see themselves as businesses." Public funding for gaming has increased over the past three years, thanks to initiatives like the Paulo Gustavo law and the Aldir Blanc cultural fund. "We have public funds for gaming that we didn't have before, and now we have two venture capitalists with game-focused funds," Brito says. "This is a significant development, and we're not just limited to Europe; we have more funds than anywhere else in Latin America." Funding new studios is crucial for growing the Brazilian gaming industry, as it relies heavily on indie developers. "The Brazilian industry is driven by indies, and we don't have AAA studios. To grow our industry, we must support indie game development. We have big companies that outsource for AAA studios, but they're not the main part of our market." Brazil has a diverse range of indie studios, including Hermit Crab and Gazeus, which are achieving significant success. "We need a healthy base of small studios to maintain a sustainable market. All industries have a pyramid structure, with many studios at the base, some in the middle, and a few at the top. We must support indie studios, as they drive innovation. Big studios and publishers are not innovating due to the risks involved; indie studios are the ones pushing the boundaries." Indie Hero aims to provide more support to indie developers, helping them rise to the top. "We're building platforms to distribute more games and educate the Brazilian and Latin American public to appreciate indie games. Our goal is to teach developers how to be financially stable and generate recurring revenue. We're doing deals with some developers to help them get cash flowing and gain traction. Our mission is to solidify the day-to-day operations for these studios."