Gamescom Latam's plan to double in size for year two

gamesindustry.biz:

It's safe to say the first ever Gamescom Latam was a success. More than 100,000 visitors from over 70 countries came to the São Paulo Expo centre during the final week of June to play everything from locally-developed indie curios, to AAA blockbusters and first-party smash hits.

Games came from 124 exhibitors from 66 countries, and the industry's presence included more than 200 publishers and 700 studios. Not bad for an event built on the foundations of the BIG Festival (Best International Games Festival), which last year peaked at 50,000 attendees.

For Gamescom Latam CEO Gustavo Steinberg, signs of the appetite for this event were clear from the start. He tells GamesIndustry.biz that the first promotional batch of tickets sold out in just 20 minutes – which caught the team by surprise.

"We didn't know what to do," he says as we catch up at the organisers booth on the show floor. "We didn't even have all the assets ready."

Confident that the first show would be a success, the Gamescom Latam team went into this year's event already gearing up for next year – including a change of venue.

"Next year, we are going to a bigger space, which is going to be double the size of this one. It's called the Anhembi Convention Center, it's the oldest venue in São Paulo, but it was completely run down and now it has been renovated. It's brand new, super technological in terms of venues, and no columns so it's really easy to build the different booths in different shapes and everything."

Moving to the Anehmbi will bring the floor space up from 25,000 square metres to 50,000, while Steinberg estimates "at least 150,000 attendees, maybe 200,000" – almost certainly cementing Gamescom Latam's position as "the biggest games event in the Americas."

"From the point of view of the developers, joining forces with Gamescom was the obvious choice once it was a possibility"

In fact, as we speak, the wall behind him is decked out with a preliminary floorplan, as well as details of exhibition and