BIG Festival 2022 a Smashing Success with 1.6 million People Attending the Hybrid Event Digitally and In-person
Another year from Best International Games Festival (BIG Festival) 2022 — the largest games festival in Latin America — has come and gone and Brazil Games (the Brazilian Games Export Program), which is carried out by Abragames (Brazilian Games Companies Association) and ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), are excited to announce this year’s BIG Festival 2022 Awards Winners! The jury comprised a variety of 48 professionals from across the video game industry. The ceremony can be viewed online here.
The grand prize winner of the coveted Best Game award at BIG Festival 2022 was awarded to Gamedec by Polish developers Anshar Studios. Set in a cyberpunk isometric virtual world, Gamedec puts the players in the shoes of a game detective, who must solve crimes inside these virtual worlds.
The award for the Best Brazilian Game went to No Place For Bravery, developed by Glitch Factory. Behold the story of Thorn, an old ambitious warrior who roams the world in search of his lost daughter. Dodge, parry, and cleave your way out of brutal clashes in this 2D top-down action RPG.
Other BIG Festival award winners include:
- Best Game: Latin America Award — The Eternal Cylinder by ACE Team
- Innovation Award — One Hand Clapping by Bad Dream Games
- Best Multiplayer Award — DAVIGO by Davigo Studio
- Best Mobile Game Award — Wish Me Luck by Black Moluska
- BIG Impact: Best Game Diversity Award — Unpacking by Witch Beam
- BIG Impact: Best Educational Game Award — Flying Bunk by Plot Kids
- BIG Impact: Best Social Questions Game Award — Train to Sachsenhausen by Charles Games
- Best Sound Award — Inua: A Story in Ice and Team by ARTE France
- Best XR/VR Award — Goliath: Playing with Reality by Anagram
- Best Game BIG Brands Award — Jorel’s Brother and the Most Important of the Galaxy! By Double Dash Studios/Copa Studios
- Best Student Game Award— Lysfangha by Daphné DELOFFRE – Baptiste MARSAC
- Best Narrative Award — The Forgotten City by Modern Storyteller
- Best Gameplay Award — Dodgeball Academy by Pocket Trap
BIG Festival 2022 celebrates the release and promotion of games in Latin America, and this year they offered over 200 games available to play. They hosted over 300 speakers from industry leaders, like Square Enix, Devolver Digital, Guerrilla Games, Riot Games, Humble, ESPN Brasil, and many more. As a valuable space for newcomers to the industry and veterans alike, BIG Festival has been home to lectures, awards, and business meetings, as well as the presence by the industry’s leading publishers and investors.
Despite the setbacks caused by the pandemic and the shift to an online-only format, BIG Festival 2021 achieved record-breaking numbers — and 2022 looks to be holding nothing back. Here is a sneak preview of the results from this year’s Festival, with full results being published at a later date:
- BIG Festival Professional Area: The event generated a staggering amount of business partnerships and opportunities, and this year a whopping 5,856 scheduled business meetings were attended by over 1,350 professionals.
- BIG Play Area: An astonishing 1.6 million players attend the hybrid event, with 29,800 appearing in person at the Festival. Partner platforms had an impact of over 90 million, over 300 million across social platforms, and generated an impact of over 18.5 million across media partners.
With industry giants like Epic and Nintendo forming close relationships and partnerships with Brazilian Studios, BIG Festival is an incredible opportunity for business development in one of the hottest gaming markets in the world.
Brazil is now the largest market by games revenues in LATAM and #12 in the world in 2022. The $2.3 billion (USD) Brazilian games industry has seen explosive growth over the last several years, with the number of local gamers reaching a staggering 94.7 million as of 2021. The mobile gaming market accounts for nearly half the revenue, and is the fastest growing sector, however, both console and PC account for $657 million and $556 million respectively.’
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