How Brazil's new legal framework for games will change the industry
During the opening session of Gamescom Latam, Carolina Caravana – vice president of Brazilian games trade body Abragrames – said the history of the nation's games industry would now be split into two periods: before and after 2024.
The turning point? The adoption of a new legal framework in May that redefines video games in the eyes of the law, opens up new incentives for games companies, and creates additional opportunities for investment, among other things.
Dry as 'a new legal framework' may sound, the excitement for its impact on the local games industry is palpable when you speak to Brazilian developers, with the term "game changer" used frequently.
"We're calling it phase two of the Brazilian games industry," says Abragames president Rodrigo Terra. "We've had the boss fight, now we have the next level."
Eros Silva of trade body Apex Brasil adds: "This legal framework opens new perspectives when you try to be a safe place for companies, for the government to understand what the gaming industry is, and a safe place for investors to come to Brazil.
"This kind of legal framework [is] trying to dismiss misunderstandings of what gaming companies are, or what bad companies are."
The framework means that companies can now be defined as a video games business rather than a 'software company that makes video games'. This will mean they have their own code number within the CNAE (National Classification of Economic Activities), and also different tax rules compared to other software businesses.
"We now have the opportunity to have Brazilian states looking into games from an economic perspective," Terra explains. "Many other countries were doing that ten, 15 years ago: the UK, France, Germany, the United States, even South Korea. Those governments were creating [hubs], tax incentives, tax relief, and operations that would help games companies perform better."
Games have also been classed under 'culture,' opening new avenues for grants and funding. A line has even been drawn
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